


Moments After Moments

by arozbelle



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 14:43:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6859198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arozbelle/pseuds/arozbelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levy wasn’t someone people took notice to and she didn’t mind it one bit but when she is toss in the world of High School popularity and fighting for what little she has, her new neighbour, annoying classmate and one of the most popular guys in her school, Gray Fullbuster might have a few answers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Changes

Levy McGarden wasn’t a known name in Magnolia High School but she didn’t expect anyone to know the assistant to the librarian and girl that always had her head in a book. After all, she didn’t know anyone really. She kept to herself mostly beside when she talked to her more popular best friend, Lucy Heartfilla. She was well-known and she assumed people thought that Levy was a groupie to her. But that definitely wasn’t the case, their friendship was deeper than people knew. Lucy was one of the few people Levy knew growing up in the small part of Magnolia she was from instead of the main city.

The others managed to spread out and away from her but she also didn’t mind that either. She got that she wasn’t the type of friend they wanted, they wanted cooler and more fun friends. She was surprised when Lucy stayed her friend. She was a junior now, the school year just started last week and she already was trying to do extra credit work which she wouldn’t get done until the last minute after reading a good book or two. She was chatting with Lucy about Lucy’s Algebra II class as she complained about Levy not even having a math class.

“It’s not my fault I finished Calculus last semester,” she blushed and her friend sighed as she stared in her locker’s mirror.

“You still going to help me with math though, right? I don’t have the time to study, speaking of that, there’s a party tomorrow. I’m invited so you’re definitely invited if you’re not reading a book.”

“Lu, you know I don’t really like parties though. You hang mostly with I guess people call them the popular crowd and those aren’t my kind of people.”

“Don’t make me talk to your brother.” Lucy warned and Levy just rolled her eyes. “You never have the courage to talk to him anyway.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means even though he’s a senior taking a couple of college classes doesn’t make him out of your league.”

“You’re always trying to set me up with your brother but might I remind you I have someone else on my radar.”

“You remind me, you flirt with him but still, no progress. I’m pretty sure I could get a guy quicker than you.” Levy chuckled, knowing that probably was a lie but she never tried.

“I would totally bet you on that one but you would fail completely also you don’t even do bets.” Lucy sighed, fixing her lip gloss before slamming her locker shut and facing her friend.

“Betting is almost like gambling, no thank you.” Levy waved her hand a little as she watched people in the hallway.

“Anyway, want to grab breakfast or would you rather go to the library?”

“Breakfast and if we have enough time, library.” The bluenette stood up straight before she started walking behind her blonde friend. Lucy greeted everyone in the hallway by first names or sometimes last names, it depended on the person. But they all responded with a smile, a wave, and a hello. Levy was writing in a notebook of hers as they walked, basically following Lucy’s voice to keep her out of bumping into anyone.

But Lucy stopped and Levy hit her back before looking up to see what stopped her friend. It didn’t seem to even bother Lucy when Levy bumped into her back and Levy understood why, they were in front of the other crowd Lucy hung out with when she wasn’t geeking out with Levy or actually doing her school work.

“Gray, Erza, Loke, Gajeel, Laxus, and Natsu.” Lucy spoke in a what seemed to be a happy tone but with a nervous undertone to it which Levy only seemed to catch. Levy arched her brow when she looked at all of them, she knew this wasn’t the entire group, she saw Lucy around all of them multiple times to know who they were and what their statuses were in the school, Lucy gushed about it and how happy she was they allowed her to hang with them. But always reminded Levy she wasn’t going to leave her behind because of other people.

“Lucy,” they all said in sync as if they practiced it for hours on end to prefect that or at least that how Levy saw it. None of them seemed too fond or overexcited until the Natsu boy dragged Lucy off with a giant grin on his face and Lucy mouthing ‘sorry’ to Levy. She just sighed, knowing it was going to happen someday but then she felt eyes on her. Levy looked to see the people that Lucy left her with all stared at her almost as if she didn’t belong there – because she didn’t.

“I’m going to go now…” She muttered mostly to herself as she started shuffling her feet but someone grabbed her shoulder lightly and she faced to see Loke, she knew his reputation well. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” He smirked, and she couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed confused by that and she couldn’t believe that he was hitting on her when moment ago he seemed like he wanted her anywhere else.

“Can I help you with something?” She asked, ignoring his compliment.

“How well do you know Lucy?” He started twirling a couple strand of her hair with his finger.

“Why do you want to know?” She asked too defensively for her own liking but she also knew Loke and Lucy’s history. He broke her heart in freshman year and that when his reputation started.

“Loke, leave Levy alone.” Her brother voice spoke behind him and Loke rolled his eyes as he faced him. “If it isn’t the great Jellal. What pleasure do I have of you ruining a perfectly good moment for me?”

“That’s his little sister,” Erza spoke which made Levy blushed that she knew that fact. But she also knew that Erza had a history with Jellal, it wasn’t a pretty one, too many broken hearts between the two, always got back together in a way until Jellal started taking college classes and broke off the entire thing completely.

“Is that so? How did we never hear about her then?” Loke asked, it seemed like a challenge to Levy but she kept her mouth shut. She knew the answer, her and Jellal preferred keeping their lives separated from each other.

“Don’t worry about it, I just don’t want your hands on her.” Jellal always had a calmness to his voice but people knew when he was being serious or threatening.

Levy didn’t wait to watch the rest of it played out, she just walked away, hoping to still have time for breakfast. It was too early for drama, at least for her. She was ecstatic when she got her breakfast and sat to eat. She did mind that she wasn’t eating with Lucy, she was the only person that sat with Levy. But she started writing notes again, letting her glasses hang on for dear life on her nose as she read over what she wrote before writing again not to repeat herself.

She heard someone sit next to her as they put their tray on the table, she didn’t really bother seeing who is it as she was wrapped up in her notes.

“You know it’s not nice to ignore someone who graciously sit next to you.” The unfamiliar male voice spoke and Levy ate a bit of her parfait, waiting for him to realise she wasn’t in the mood to speak.

“The silence type I see, I could definitely work with that, I think.” The confusion in the guy voice made Levy smiled a little.

“A smile I see; ah I must be doing something right to get a smile.” She couldn’t believe how casual this guy was being toward her. It wasn’t normal since most people would of gave up or realise she was busy with something. But she was sad when she realises she was done with her notes earlier than expected. She sighed a little before looking to see who joined her and she was surprised on who it was. She didn’t know how long she stared at him, trying to figure out who would send him to sit with her.

“Do I have something on my face?” He asked and she shook her head.

“You don’t know me, why are you here?”

“Lucy, she told me to sit with you. For what reason? No idea, I honestly have better people to sit with but I owed her one.” He said and she couldn’t help but feel a type of way, ‘better people’ rung through her ears.

“You don’t have to sit with me, I bet those ‘better people’ would think something weird about this arrangement. Tell Lucy you sat with me or whatever.” She knew she came off a bit bitter, she didn’t know how else to say it. She knew she didn’t want any charity over being alone but it didn’t seem like he was going to move.

“You’re a little difficult,” he chuckled.

“I just don’t like handouts, especially from people who obviously don’t want to interact with me.” She stood up, with her parfait with her and notebook. “Goodbye, Gray.” She didn’t hide the annoyance in her voice before she left him alone. She continued to eat her parfait against a wall in the cafeteria since she always sat outside. She didn’t like how cold the cafeteria was, it always made her shiver but she didn’t want to deal with anyone who didn’t genuinely want to be around her.

After breakfast ended she went straight to her first period class, the only class she had with Lucy but after the class was halfway over, she knew her best friend was skipping. She sulked through most of the class, doing her best to pay attention and get enough notes for Lucy to understand everything without her having to go into details which lead to rants and her getting off topic.

The class wasn’t boring though, even though everyone else looked pretty bored out of their minds but she was always excited for classes, it was her favourite part of being in school beside the library. When the class was over she had her ‘shift’ at the library instead of her math class that was supposed to be in that spot but with her finishing that early she had to fill her time with something else. The librarian knew she spent most of her time there and asked a couple of times to help when she was free so she gladly let Levy work with her. She enjoyed it a little too much, but she didn’t mind helping others find great books or things for their classes. It was like her second home.

She put away her glasses after her first period class since she never used them in the library, it was the only time she didn’t read – oddly to say since it is a library. But she wanted to stay focus on reshelving books, checking out books, and returning them. She enjoyed how peaceful the library was, barely any noise just whispering from people who had study hall. Her first job was always going through the return books so they could be reshelved with the other books she or the librarian weren’t able to get through the previous day. It kept her calm for the most part, she hummed a little melody when she didn’t have her headset to listen to music low.

It wasn’t a lot of books which she wasn’t sure if she was glad or upset about it but it also made her work a little quicker. As she started putting the books on the shelves, she heard something that she wished she could get out of her head, _moaning_. She knew some kids hooked up in the library which made her shiver with disgust at the thought of people using her sanctuary. She left the cart behind as she went to the source, her job was to break up anyone who thought it was a good idea. When she saw who it was, it didn’t really surprise her that much. She cleared her throat to get Gray and the girl who was hooked to his hip as her hair covered only her face. But when the girl faced Levy, she knew the girl very well. “Oh, hello Levy.” She spoke softly as she fixed her clothes.

“Juvia, been a while.” Levy noted and the girl nodded a little. “You are aware there is a no makeout rule in the library, right?” Levy asked, looking between the two.

“No one even follows that rule, it’s a stupid rule.” Gray grumbled but it was quiet so she heard him clearly.

“The library is for reading and writing, not kissing and moaning.” Levy countered, crossing her arms.

“I’m going to go,” Juvia got up, “nice seeing you Levy.” Levy watched Juvia leave before facing Gray who looked more annoyed than entertained.

She started to tap her foot impatiently as they had a staring contest. Both seemed really intense but finally Levy gave up and rolled her eyes. “Are you just going to sit this? At least grabbed a book.” She dropped her arms and went back to her cart to continue reshelving. She didn’t want to think about what just happened, afraid of what would have happened if she didn’t go there at the right time.

She tried to get the thought out of her head and focus on her job at hand. But someone tried to pick up one of the books and her first instinct was to swat their hand away, so she did. “Did you really have to do that?” He asked, sounding more annoyed than earlier which only made Levy a bit happier.

“You don’t take books off the cart,” she informed him trying to hide her smile.

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“There’s a sign,” she said before facing him. He was taller than her, of course, almost everyone was.

“I didn’t see the sign,” he scoffed.

“Of course you didn’t, you were probably too busy trying to hook up with Juvia to see it.” She let herself smile at him before turning back to the shelves and put the book in its rightful place.

“You’re going to use that forever?”

“I don’t know why you’re even talking to me.” Levy looked at the next book before moving down the aisle and Gray followed.

“Maybe you’re just a little interesting. You don’t particularly stand out, but you know Lucy and your brother is Jellal out of all people. Both of them well-known in school but yet I never knew your name until today. How is that possible?” He asked, a little too close for her comfort.

“Listen, Silver, that’s none of your business.” She glared at him for a moment.

“It’s Gray,” he whispered in her ear before leaving her alone. She took a deep breath, putting the book in its place before letting herself just take a moment. She knew this wasn’t all her fault even if she would have left them sooner, Lucy still had him sit next to her at breakfast. But now she was dreading lunch, hoping for no more encounters with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first story ever on AO3 and this is honestly one of my favourite crackships at the moment from Fairy Tail (most of my ships from FT is actually crackships). But I was a little upset when I couldn't find any stories about them so I decided to write this. Don't be surprise if most of my stories are Gravy (Gray x Levy) on here when it comes to Fairy Tail. I hope to do this ship justice and hope everyone enjoys this story!


	2. Windows

Surprisingly Levy got out of school that day with no more encounters by the annoying Gray Fullbuster but she did get a chance to scold Lucy for making him sit with her which she apologised, thinking it wasn’t that big of a deal. But the next day was Friday, the day of the party that Lucy invited Levy to. Levy thought about it last night while she was up until 2 in the morning doing homework and rewriting her notes to something better for her to understand. She thought about staying up late at a party would be at least a little more entertaining than homework but she has yet to tell Lucy that.

It was like every morning, Lucy was looking at herself in the mirror after applying the last bit of makeup she wasn’t able to put on before leaving to go to school, always blaming Levy since she was the one to drive. But Levy couldn’t help but want a little extra time on her hands. She was reading a book as Lucy slammed her locker like every day. “I forgot to tell you, Natsu asked me out yesterday.” She informed her friend which caught Levy a little off guard.

“And? Did you say yes?” The bluenette wondered not even moving her head so she could read and listen.

“Of course not silly, I enjoy him chasing me. It’s no fun if you just give up that easy, I want him to work for it, to know that he isn’t just asking me to ask me but because he really want to be with me.”

“So in simple terms, you’re playing games with him?”

“In a way you can say that.” The blonde agreed which made her friend finally raised her head and look over to her friend.

“You shouldn’t do that if you really like him, Lu. You might lose him because of this, is it really worth the risk?”

“Says the girl who never had a boyfriend.”

“I know I never dated but I wouldn’t want to accidentally break someone heart by playing around with it unless I’m not aware of their feelings and then that’s a different story.”

“I wonder how many admirers you have had and never realise it.”

“I doubt many, if any. I’m not noticeable like you. I’m tiny,” Levy shrugged, she didn’t mind it. She sometimes wondered how was Jellal even related to her since he was so tall and she _wasn’t_.

“Oh, shut up, Levy. Let’s get some breakfast.”

“By telling me to shut up don’t make me want to eat breakfast with you.” She pointed at her friend who just laughed and walked. Levy was right behind her like every day. She bookmarked her page in her book before she put her glasses in her bag, too lazy to let her ponytail out. This time they actually made it to breakfast together without any interruptions.

They were sitting down and Levy was eating her fruit parfait as they talked about random things. “Oh, hey I heard someone moved in next to you today.” Lucy laughed and Levy raised her brow.

“Wait, how do you know this before me?”

“Jellal told me over the phone when I asked him was he going to the party.”

“But when I left… Nevermind, I wasn’t even paying attention. Wait, you actually _talked_ to Jellal?” Levy had an amusing smile on her face but it disappeared when the pink-haired boy from yesterday, Natsu sat next to Lucy and kissed her cheek.

“Hi, Natsu.” Lucy smiled, facing him completely forgetting about Levy’s presence. Levy muttered a few words under her breath as she continued to eat.

“So the party? You’re definitely going to be my plus one right?” He asked.

“Sorry, I’m actually going to go with Levy if she agrees to it.” Levy felt a glare in her direction but she didn’t care which one of them was it.

“And if she doesn’t?” Natsu asked in a hopeful tone which just made Levy _want_ to go but she also knew that was probably out of jealousy since it was obvious he probably didn’t want Levy around but she was Lucy’s _best friend_.

“I’ll think about it but I’m very persuasive when it comes to Levy. So the party starts at ten, right?”

“Yep. I got to go, see you later babe.” Levy heard them kiss which made her make a gross facial expression but she heard him get up. She finally looked at her best friend who was blushing.

“For someone who is leading someone on sure seem like they are already in the relationship.” Levy pointed out and Lucy shook her head.

“He’s sweet to me but he rarely shows it to anyone else, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. I don’t have a history of boys being nice to me, Jellal is my brother so he doesn’t count and he’s more protective than nice.” Levy twirl her spoon in the parfait.

“Maybe your new neighbour will be exactly what you need?"

“For all you know my neighbour could be a girl.”

“So?”

“Good point.” Levy chuckled as she finished her breakfast. “Are you even going to eat because I’ll gladly eat that too.” Levy pointed at Lucy’s smoothie and oatmeal. “I’m going to eat it but you can have _some_ of my smoothie.” Lucy said in a warning tone, knowing Levy would definitely eat it all.

The rest of the day went like normal, Lucy showed up for first period, Levy worked at the library second period, ate lunch alone since Lucy had other plans but she was used to that by now. Third and fourth period was normal too, nothing out of the ordinary. She was waiting on Lucy to get to the car so she can drop her off at home before going home herself. She checked her cell every five seconds until it went off. “Got a ride with Erza,” Levy muttered the text message and sighed. She got in her car and went straight home. When she got to her house she saw a moving truck next door and so she parked in her own driveway.

The houses on the block was pretty identical to one another. Four bedrooms, about two to three bathrooms depending on the size of the house. Her house was pretty close to her neighbours, a fence separated their yards, it was about six feet away from each other so she had a clear view into the bedroom that faced her own. So wondered would someone occupy that room now. She took all of her books that she had and put them on her porch before going next door as she saw a lady grabbing a few boxes from the truck. “Um, excuse me.” Levy tried to get the lady attention, not sure was her voice loud enough or not but she was relieved when the woman turned to her. “Hi, can I help you with anything?” She asked and Levy smiled.

“I’m Levy, I actually live next door and wanted to know if you needed any help with bringing boxes in?” Levy offered which made the lady laughed.

“I’m Ur, me, my son and daughter just moved in here. But you can definitely take a box or two.” Ur spoke and Levy nodded and went to take a box that just had ‘son’ written on it. It was a little on the heavy side but after carrying stacks of books all the time it wasn’t that difficult for her to manage. Ur was already in the house by the time she got the box, she went in to see where she could of gone. Finding her in the kitchen, Levy readjusted the box in her hands. “Where do this go?” She wondered and Ur looked at her after taking a few things out of the box in front of her.

“Second bedroom on the right,” she spoke in a kind voice and Levy couldn’t help but smile again, she went up the stairs and to the second room, the door was wide open which made it easier for her to go in. She put the box on the floor before looking out the window where the bed was in front of. She wasn’t exactly surprised when she saw she was looking into her own bedroom. The top of her desk visible which was under her window, the bookcase next to her door on the other side of the room was also visible.

Levy wondered would she have to put up curtains or blinds now that it was obvious her window view from her desk would be looking straight into a boy’s bedroom and vice versa. She stood there for a moment, her lights were off in her room but the sunlight made it lightly dimmed.

She was so much in her thoughts about what she was going to do about her view that she didn’t even hear someone come up the stairs and in the room. She heard distant shouting like she wasn’t even in the house where it was happening in until they bumped in her and she fell forward onto their bed. “What the hell?” He growled, Levy whined a little before turning over to see the last person she wanted to see in the house next to hers.

“Why the hell are you in my room?” Gray scolded this time and Levy just shook her head a little, getting up and leaving. She didn’t want to say anything to him, her entire world was crashing, how the hell was she so unlucky to get _Gray Fullbuster_ as her neighbour? Something she been waiting for to happen for _years_. “Are you okay, sweetie?” Ur asked and Levy just nodded to her and gave her a fake smile that seemed believable to Levy before quickly leaving the house and to her own. She grabbed her stack of books from the porch before going inside. She climbed her stairs and to her room, turning the lights on. She didn’t even bother to look at the window as she started putting her books away in their respective spots on her bookcases.

After she was done with that, she grabbed her homework and put it neatly on her desk, taking her glasses out of her bag and putting them on. She grabbed her latest read that she wasn’t able to finish that day before sitting at her desk and immersing herself into it. She didn’t know how many hours passed before she finished the book. Her phone started ringing so she checked it to see it was Lucy and it was nine. Answering the phone, she sighed. “Yes?”

“Party, I’m coming over to get ready. Go take a shower before I get there.”

“You didn’t even let me answer you.”

“I don’t care, you missed _every_ party last year, not this year.”

“Fine, I’m going to shower.”

“Good, I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Okay, bye Lu.” Levy waited for a bye and when she got it, she hung up. Levy sighed again, stretching before going to the bathroom across the hall and showered. After she was done with that, she went back in her room, towel around her as she waited for Lucy to come.

She put the book in its spot on her bookcase before Lucy came barging in. “I got everything you need including a dress,” Lucy said before looking out Levy’s window. “Wait, is that Gray Fullbuster?” Lucy asked and Levy knotted her brows together before looking out her window with Lucy, Gray was in his room, it looked like he was looking for something. Levy couldn't believe what she was seeing, he wasn't wearing a shirt and was in clear view of her window.

“Um, yeah, he’s my new neighbour.” Levy sighed and looked at Lucy.

“He’s shirtless,” Lucy had a grin on her face and Levy rolled her eyes. “You’re here to get me ready for a party I don’t want to go to not drool over him.”

“True, let’s go.” Lucy grabbed her friend’s hand and led her to her bed. After Lucy applied Levy’s makeup and did her hair, she handed her the dress, Levy got dress away from the window but still in her room as she looked into her mirror. “Do I have to wear my hair like this?” She pouted and Lucy nodded.

“No bandanas.”

“Fine,” Levy sighed as she pulled on the dress a little before going to her desk and putting the shoes on. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten, we’re going to be fashionably late,” Lucy grinned as she looked out Levy’s window again. Levy looked over to her friend, not joining her this time.

“You’re one lucky girl, did you know that?”

“Why is that?”

“Do you know how many girls would kill to be able to look into Gray’s bedroom every day?”

“I’m getting curtains or blinds.”

“Why? You love this view.”

“ _Loved_ , I’m not fond of Mister Fullbuster. I caught him making out with Juvia in the library.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Lucy spoke thoughtfully. “Well, let’s go.” Lucy smiled and grabbed Levy’s hand before grabbing her purse. Levy grabbed hers as well before they went out of the house and into Lucy’s car. Levy was surprised that Lucy even remembered how to drive after all those days of carpooling together since Levy got her license.

On the way to the party, Lucy sung along to songs that played on the radio while Levy sulked. She wasn’t sure if she was even ready to go to a party. The last party she went to was a birthday party and that was Jellal’s and she wasn’t even supposed to be there.

She was uncomfortable for the most part at party, not sure who to talk to, what to say, she didn’t drink alcohol either. She stuck out like a sore thumb every time even in middle school. So when they got to the location, Levy already wanted to leave. Lucy turned off the car and got out. Levy took a couple of deep breaths before getting out, clutching her purse as she followed Lucy. As always Lucy greeted everyone by name and they greeted her back. Levy didn’t know how Lucy did it, she envied that about her best friend.

Levy heard the music blasting before even getting to the source of it. Lucy seemed to know exactly where she was going so Levy just followed almost like a little puppy or at least that how she felt.

They ended up in the kitchen where Erza was handing out drinks, “hey there!” Lucy called, grabbing the redhead’s attention.

“Hey Lucy, I thought you wasn’t going to show for a second.”

“I had to get Levy ready,” Lucy gestured to the girl behind her. She waved at Erza, and Erza just gave her a small smile.

“Welcome to my party, Levy. Help yourself to anything,” Erza offered before going back to handing drinks out. Levy went over to the kitchen island, seeing varies of foods. It reminded her that she didn’t even eat dinner before leaving and her growling stomach agreed. She grabbed a plate and started putting things she enjoyed on it, crackers, cheese, a few grapes, two cookies and she was hesitating with the brownie but Lucy nodded and pointed to the other side of the bowl with more brownies so that when she knew it was safe.

She sat on the counter since it was the only place that wasn’t crowded that she saw since coming into the house. Levy only been over to Erza’s house about three times in her entire life. Twice at the beginning of middle school and once in freshman year but everything seemed to have changed in the house. It seemed brighter in a way.

Levy kept to herself, and it didn’t seem like Erza minded her staying in the kitchen before she left with Lucy talking about boys. She sighed, knowing she was Lucy’s best friend but they had little in common nowadays, Lucy did have a love for books and even writing but Lucy preferred partying and being known more than reading and writing unless she was over at Levy house when she wasn't too busy drooling over Jellal.

The bluenette ate slowly, not wanting to hurry herself to have to go look for Lucy. She didn’t know why she even let Lucy drag her to this party, she would of rather be back in her room reading a book or eating a real dinner.

“I fucking swear I can never come to one of these things without someone trying to kiss me.” She heard someone complain making her leave her thoughts and face them. Of course it was Jellal, even though she preferred him over whoever else that was at the party.

“Hey,” she spoke quietly.

“Oh, hey Levy. Why are you here?” He wondered, looking at his little sister.

“Lucy,” she shrugged.

“Of course Lucy. Where is she?”

“Dunno, haven’t seen her since she left.”

“I’m guessing she ditched you with Erza?”

“How did you know that?”

“They became closer recently, whenever I see Erza around, most of the time Lucy is there too. It’s unsettling.”

“Because they both like you?”

“Exactly, do they even know?”

“Erza doesn’t know about Lucy but Lucy knows about Erza but anyone can see Lucy is trying to get over it.”

“With Natsu? I wish her the best of luck with him.” Jellal spoke genuinely and Levy just smiled.

“So question, are you even going to have fun here or just sit on the counter and eat?”

“I don’t do well with things like this.”

“I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Jellal grabbed a drink before leaving the kitchen. Levy knew he was right but she didn’t want to try, she wanted to stay to herself like normal.

Levy checked her phone to see how long she been sitting in the kitchen alone after Jellal left. “Thirty minutes,” she muttered to herself before getting off the counter to refill her plate with snacks. She walked around the kitchen, the music barely audible to her with the door closed. She looked at pictures of Erza and her family, one of Erza and Jellal when they were little kids even one of their families together including Levy. She smiled, pressing her fingers against the frame over the picture. They had a copy of the picture too, but it was in the attic with all of their parents’ stuff, it made them too sad to have it around the first few months until they just forgot about it.

“Admiring pictures I see,” the last voice Levy wanted to hear spoke. She looked and saw Gray who was grabbing a drink.

“Why do you care?” Levy snapped, moving her hand before he stood behind her. “I don’t, why are you always hostile to me?”

“I’m not hostile.”

“I can definitely disagree on that one.” She looked at him as he looked at the picture.

“Isn’t that you?” He pointed to the little girl in a sundress with blue hair. She sighed and nodded a little, “yeah that’s me.”

“I didn’t know your family were close to Erza’s.”

“We’re not, not anymore at least.”

“Why?”

“You like asking questions you won’t get answers to, hm?” She chuckled and looked up at him.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you answered any of my questions by far.”

“Maybe if you were nicer I would answer more of your questions.”

“What did I say to make you so pissed at me?”

“Better people.” She walked away and back to the counter, sitting back in her spot letting her feet dangle.

Levy didn’t want him to come over to her but she didn’t get what she wanted, he lends against the island in front of her.

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Then why did you say it that way?” She raised her brow as he looked around, sipping his juice.

“I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“Are you really or are you just saying it to make me as you say less ‘hostile’ toward you?”

“I mean it; I know my reputation at school. And I’m guessing you probably know it too but a reputation doesn’t define a person.”

“I never said it did, I know first-hand about reputations, my best friend is Lucy after all.”

“Yeah, I know.” It got quiet again, Levy started eating assuming the conversation was over with. “How do you deal with being in her shadow?” She was confused as she looked at him but Gray looked serious. Why would he ask her something like that? Levy chuckled before eating a grape.

“I’m not in her shadow, I’m my own person and I don’t want any part of you people.”

“Us people?”

“Cool kids? Known around school? Everyone knows your name? Should I continue?”

“No, but if you look at it this way, your best friend wants to be ‘us people’ and your brother already is. So where do that leave you?”

“Where I’m at now, nothing will change between Lucy and I. She will always be my friend.”

“Sometimes it doesn’t work that way if you’re not on the same level as them, they forget you, leave you out and then sooner or later, they’re gone out of your life.” Gray muttered before standing up straight.

“Just tell Lucy next time not to look through your window at me, it’s uncomfortable. I prefer having privacy in my room. Can you do that?”

“Tell her yourself,” Levy scoffed.

“Like I said, you’re difficult.” Gray left after that comment and Levy leaned back. She hoped for peace but then the door opened a few minutes after he left with people giggling, she was surprised when she realises it was Lucy and Cana.

“Oh, that was so funny seeing Natsu serenading you. What got into that boy’s head?”

“I have no idea; I don’t think he understands the meaning of ‘give me some time’.” Lucy and Cana burst out in another fit of giggles until Lucy spotted Levy.

“Please don’t tell me you been in here since I left,” Lucy pouted and the bluenette shrugged.

“Cana, darling, can you _please_ take Levy upstairs to have some fun while I go pee.” Lucy let go of the older girl before going to the bathroom. Cana walked over to Levy, holding her hand out. “Come on, Lee.” Levy twisted her lip before putting her plate down and taking the girl’s hand.

She reluctantly followed her up the stairs, not sure where they were even going. Levy hoped that she wouldn’t get a headache as the music somehow became louder than when she came in the house. But when they were upstairs it seemed like there were another system playing different music, neither were her taste. When they stopped and Cana knocked on a door she impatiently waited for someone to open it. It sounded like someone unlocked the door before opening it. She wasn’t surprised when it was Erza. “Are you guys still playing?”

“Yeah, come in.” Cana slipped through the door with Levy behind her. Levy was familiar with everyone in the room but she knew most of them probably didn’t even know her. “Guys, this is Levy McGarden.” Cana introduced her and everyone muttered a form of hello or waved.

Levy waved back with her free hand. “Do you want to join us?” Erza asked and Levy looked at the taller girl.

“What are you guys playing?”

“Well, Natsu decided to want to play the most clique game of high school history, seven minutes in heaven.” Erza didn’t sound too happy about it but Levy just agreed. She was sat between Lisanna and Loke. “Since Levy just joined us, let her spin.” Erza smirked and Levy didn’t like that idea. She was hoping to stay out of the game as long as possible.

She took a deep breath before spinning the bottle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I don't know how many chapters I'm going to have before they start becoming semi-friends yet but I kind of want it to build up a bit instead of "forcing" the relationship.


	3. Above

The bottle landed on the last person Levy wanted it to, _Natsu_. “Now you two go in the closet,” Erza sounded bored out of her mind, “we’ll set a timer for seven minutes and then open the door when the timer is up.”

Levy nodded as she got up cautiously, not wanting to do this but Lucy made her go there. She knew she was probably shaking a little but she still went into the closet. There was a light on in there which meant she would be able to see everything that would happen. Natsu didn’t look too please to have to go in the closet with her but she couldn’t blame him, she was no Lucy.

After he closed the door, she started wiping her hands on her dress. “So…” Natsu rocked back and forth on his feet.

“You don’t want to be here with me, do you?” Levy asked, hoping for a ‘no’.

“Not exactly… I only asked to play this game because Lucy was in the room,” he admitted as he scratched his head.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Levy nodded a little before sitting on the closet’s floor.

“Want to talk about anything?” Levy offered as he just looked around the closet. “Nope, I’m good.” He shook his head and Levy sighed, twirling her hair, wishing for a bandana. It felt forever before someone opened the door, she was still sitting on the floor and Natsu was looking around the closet. “I’m guessing nothing happened in here,” someone spoke behind Erza that Levy didn’t bother to look to see.

Levy got up before sitting in the spot she was assigned earlier as Natsu spinned the bottle this time but before it could land on someone there were a knock on the door and they stopped the bottle. Levy watched as Erza opened the door, the bluenette was curious on who it could possibly be, she hoped it was Lucy. Erza moved out of the way she opened the door and when she saw her friend, Levy was happy but it diminished when she saw the person’s arm Lucy was on, of course Gray.

“Sorry for leaving for more than five minutes, I bumped into this one downstairs in the kitchen and I kidnapped him.” Lucy explained to Erza loudly and giggled afterward and that when Levy realise that Lucy was in fact drunk or at least tipsy. Lucy plopped down next to Natsu after letting Gray go. “Gray you go between Lisanna and Levy.” Levy moved over a little, wishing for a different order or to leave the room. But she felt glued to the floor, as he brushed his leg against hers. She looked at Lucy who was draping herself over Natsu. Levy didn’t know how the blonde managed to get someone’s attention, Levy probably were pouting by now as Natsu continued his turn as he spun the bottle.

Levy folded her hands together on her lap, looking down as she chewed on her bottom lip. She heard two people get up and went to the closet behind her. “You okay?” Gray whispered which made Levy just nod her head, he was the last person she wanted to talk to. But she couldn’t handle it anymore, she got up before a timer went off and went over to Erza, “can I leave?”

“Yeah, sure.” Erza unlocked the door and Levy quickly left and went down the stairs and out of the house. She didn’t know what was wrong with her but she just felt like she didn’t belong there, she always knew that, it was a given. She didn’t fit there, they were all so relax and laid back and knew what they wanted but Levy knew what she wanted, she wanted to go home, do her homework and read a good book before having no choice but to go to sleep so she could get up early to go to work.

She sat on the porch, she didn’t want to go home just yet since it meant walking at least ten blocks not including the turns she would have to take. She checked the time, it was a little after midnight which wasn’t the right time to go for a stroll. She wished she knew where Jellal was and asked him to take her home but she didn’t want to go back inside. She ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it. She brought her knees up to her chest and leaned her head on top of them.

“Levy, are you okay?” She heard her friend, but she didn’t move. She felt the blonde sit next to her which made Levy turn her head to her.

“No, I’m not. Why did they act like I was one of them, they know I’m not, I definitely know I’m not so why were they acting like I belonged there when I stick out like a sore thumb?”

“Levy… Don’t think that way…”

“I have nothing in common with them beside us knowing you.”

“C’mon Lev… Don’t be a downer.”

“I just want to go home now, _please_?” Levi begged but Lucy didn’t seem to want to budge, which made Levy sighed and get up. “You know what? Forget about it, I’ll just walk.” Even though she hoped for her friend to tell her not to and let her drive Lucy and her home or at least take Lucy’s car but that didn’t happen. “I’m texting your brother,” Lucy huffed before looking to see she didn’t even have her purse on her. “Um, do you have your phone?”

“No, I left it on my desk.” Levy admitted, running her fingers through her hair once again.

“I’ll go look for him, stay put.” The blonde commanded and the bluenette just nodded and sat back on the stairs. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere to begin with. She pulled out her e-reader that she kept in her purse for moments like these before going into a book she hasn’t read quite yet. She didn’t know how long it was before someone touched her shoulder, she expected it to be Lucy but it was Erza instead.

“Jellal left about an hour ago so I’m going to take you home. Lucy plans on spending the night.” The older girl spoke and the younger just nodded, putting her e-reader back and got up.

She followed the redhead to an unfamiliar car and got in the passenger’s seat, feeling bad that she was making the host of the party take her home. But she wasn’t sure who else would be fit since Erza seemed like the only non-drunk person she currently knew. She leaned her head against the window as Erza drove the familiar way to Levy’s house. She wondered how many times Erza was over when Levy was cooped up in her room or off working. But that was only to pass by the time until they arrived to her house, she thanked Erza before getting out and going up her porch seeing Jellal’s car next to hers. Levy unlocked the front door before going in and locking it back up as she heard Erza’s car take off. She went to the kitchen to see if there were any food, but to her surprise, there was a pizza box on the island and a note.

_Since you probably didn’t eat any actual food at the party, here’s some pizza. Don’t eat it all, save some for dinner. –J_

Levy grinned at the note before opening the box and saw most of a pizza pie which made her stomach growl. She grabbed a plate, placing three slices on it before microwaving them. She put the pizza box in the fridge, it was mostly empty anyway before getting her food from the microwave and heading upstairs to her room and turning her light on. Placing the plate on her desk, she kicked off her shoes, looking at her phone. At least three text messages and a missed call from Jellal, _at least he tried to tell me he was leaving_.

She went to her closet to grab a loose tank top and sweatpants, she hated most PJs. She went to take a shower and got dressed before sitting at her desk, she had to do her homework so she wouldn’t forget them later. She ate her pizza and did her homework, after she was halfway done she looked out her window out of habit, letting her glasses hang on her nose. Gray’s light were on too, a TV visible from where Levy sat which was next to his door. If their windows were open, she wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear what was happening on the TV. She rubbed her forehead, forcing herself to go back to her homework as she remembered what he told her about Lucy earlier that night, _privacy_.

After finishing her homework, she stretched, checking the time. It was 5am, groaning she got up and put her homework in her bookbag. Muttering words about how she let the time get away from her as she brushed her hair to make it look presentable. She grabbed her work clothes and got changed, putting her favourite bandana on. She slipped her shoes on, grabbing her phone and eating the last bit of pizza she had before grabbing her purse, stuffing her phone in there and leaving downstairs.

Jellal was in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. “Coffee on the counter for you, don’t forget the sunrise,” he spoke between sips. Levy grinned as she took the long cup with the top on it, it was warm on the outside - she went back to her room and sat on her little bench that fit perfectly under her window between her bookcases that faced out to the street. That was the best view to watch the sunrise and sunset. She only watched them on the weekend if she remembered and wasn’t in a book. She sipped the coffee as she waited for the sun to rise.

After the sun has risen, she had a huge smile on her face. The sunrise always made her day better, she got up and went over to her desk. She couldn’t help but look out over her desk and look into the boy’s room, the light was off. She assumed he probably went to sleep hours ago and she didn’t enjoy her thoughts going to him but it was bound to happen, he was on the other side of her favourite window.

Levy went back downstairs and Jellal was grabbing his keys. “Carpool?”

“Yeah, I get off at six.”

“I should be done with classes at 3 so I’ll probably stop by.” He replied before they left the house.

“Okay, well I think my lunch is around 1, depends on how busy they are. Do you work tonight?”

“Yeah, I start at 8 and get off about 3.”

“Do you want me to stay up?”

“You need your sleep; you’re getting bags under your eyes again. Did you even get any sleep last night?”

“What do you think?” Levy snorted, rubbing her eyes.

It wasn’t that long of a drive to her job, she always managed to get there on time. She clocked in before she started to work and greeted the manager. Levy greeted every customer with a smile, taking their orders down, giving them their orders. She did that until her break which she always took at the restaurant. After she was done working, she was looking for Jellal, sending him a text to see where he was at. When the text was sent she got a phone call from Lucy, answering it.

“Hey, Levy! Are you busy? I just got done helping Erza clean her house and wanted to know can you help with me my homework?”

“I’m at work right now waiting for Jellal.”

“I can pick you up, I’m sober.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll just text Jellal and tell him. I’m going to be at the fruit shop.”

“Okay, see you in like twenty minutes.”

“See ya then.” Levy hung up and went to the store next to her job after sending her brother a quick text. It was a shop that sold edible arrangements mostly fruit so Levy and Lucy just called it the ‘fruit shop’.

Levy bought one of them, thanking the cashier before going outside and wait on Lucy. Levy was happy is wasn’t too hot or cold, it was August after all. The sun wasn’t that bright since the clouds were out. She enjoyed the scenery until her best friend pulled up and honk her horn. The bluenette got in, making sure not to ruin the fruits. “What’s that for?” Lucy asked as she drove off.

“It’s rude not to give new neighbours a ‘welcome to the neighbourhood’ basket of some sort.”

“Let me guess, your parents were the ones that taught you that one?”

“It’s not so bad, Jellal probably took extra study hours or had to go to work early and yesterday was a busy day so why not now? It only been a day.”

“But you don’t even _like_ your neighbour.”

“So what? Doesn’t mean I have to be rude to the entire family, his mom was nice to me.”

“Is that so? How did you even meet his mom?”

“I may or may not have took a box in the house to help…” Levy muttered nervously, knowing she didn’t want to tell Lucy about it and have her make assumptions. The blonde eyed her friend for a bit before having to return her glance to the road.

It wasn't that long of a drive and they just had music playing because Levy wanted to avoid conversation. She had to restrain herself from taking a fruit – she occasionally got one for her and Jellal whenever possible. When Lucy parked in front of Levy's house, she got out and headed directly over to next door with Lucy right behind her with ease. She rung the doorbell, patiently waiting while Lucy made comments about what if Gray opened the door and not his mom in whispers. Levy was going to say something until a girl who wasn't Ur opened the door but she resembled her so much that Levy blinked rapidly making sure she wasn't seeing anything. The girl looked around Jellal's age. "May I help you?" She asked making Levy clear her throat. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and this is my friend, Levy. She lives next door and wanted to bring you guys a welcome to the neighbourhood fruit decoration, fully edible." Lucy spoke confidently while Levy just gulped as she pushed out the arrangement to the girl.

"Oh, thank you. I'm Ultear." She smiled and took it. "If you want, you can come in." She offered and Levy was going to shake her head but Lucy always got to the point quicker than she did. "We'll love to!" She took Levy's arm and dragged her inside almost, her feet rarely keeping up on how quick Lucy wanted to get inside. She almost fell over. They followed Ultear to the kitchen as she sat the basket on the island. "So, are you two in school?" Ultear asked removing a stick of fruits on it.

"We do, we go to Magnolia High School."

"Oh? So you two probably know Gray, hm?"

"You mean Gray Fullbuster?" Lucy acted innocent while Levy just looked down.

"Yeah, he's my adopted brother. He's actually here right now. If you want you go and say hi to him, he has a couple of friends over. His room is the second one on the right."

"Okay!" Lucy didn't sound too happy but it showed that she was. Levy didn't know how she did it but she was being dragged up the stairs as she thought of it. "You're terrible to me," Levy muttered and Lucy just chuckled. When they were in front of the door, Lucy knocked. Noises were coming from the room but then it stopped, then there were muttering that they couldn't hear until the door opened and Levy looked up to only be greeted by the very tall Gajeel. "Hey Gajeel!" Lucy greeted with a wave of her free hand as her other arm were linked with Levy's.

"Gray, it's Lucy and her friend." Gajeel spoke looking behind the door.

"Let them in," Gray replied and his voice didn't sound too happy. Gajeel moved out of the way, allowing Lucy and Levy to come in. Levy messed with her bandana as her first view were of Natsu on a bed looking straight into her room. "Do you think it's a study? Or a library?" Natsu asked, probably not even realising the two girls. Levy noticed that none of them bothered with a shirt.

"Excuse me," Lucy scoffed as she let Levy's arm go and tapped on Natsu's shoulder. He turned around and grinned as Lucy. "Hey Lu!" He greeted, going in for a hug but she put her hand on his chest. "Can you not look into Levy's bedroom, it's rude." She spoke in a tone Levy wasn't really familiar with from Lucy, it was serious and not playful at all.

"Levy's bedroom?" Natsu eyebrow rose as he eyed the blue-headed girl. "That's your bedroom?" He asked and Levy just nodded her head, biting at her lip as she felt awkward standing in Gray's bedroom again. She looked around as she saw there were still many boxes, Gajeel and Gray sat on a couch that was out of view from her window. They were too wrapped up in a video game to overhear the conversation she assumed. She quietly crossed the room and saw on the bed next to Lucy who got Natsu out of the window. They were holding hands and whispering as if their previous conversation didn't happen. Levy sighed, fidgeting with her fingers. She looked up to watch the video game they were playing. She wasn't familiar with it since Jellal didn't even play games, she did when she was younger but after her parents, she didn't have any interest anymore. It was the last thing she remembered.

* * *

 

Next thing she knew she was in another bed – _her bed_ , the light hurting her eyes. She groaned, rubbing them. She sat up, her shoes off and she was above her covers. Her vision blurred again before she could make out an unknown figure. She rubbed her eyes again, hoping for her vision to go back to normal but before that happened the figure left her room, closing the door behind them. She closed her eyes, realising that she probably passed out for staying up for too long. Over 24 hours wasn’t a good thing, she thought she’ll be okay though. When her door opened again, she saw Lucy and Gray. “You okay? You passed out, almost falling off his bed.” Lucy asked concerned as she sat next to Levy. “Yeah, I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

“You know you can’t do that, Lev! Remember last time?” Lucy scolded and Levy chuckled a little. “You always get this way when this happens.”

“What do you mean?”

“You act like you’re my mom. But I’m fine, okay? I just, I should of just took a nap or something.” Levy tried to brush it off.

“You know how much this messes with your health.” Lucy warned and Levy sighed, burying her head in her pillow for a moment. “I promise to sleep better, happy?”

“Yes, I’m happy. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“You were the one who took me to the party,” the bluenette sassed.

“Okay, that was a bad call on my part but when you got home, you should of went to sleep.”

“I had homework and you know I can’t put it off,” Levy looked at her friend before looking at Gray who was looking around Levy’s room. “What is he doing here?” She whispered and the blonde giggled a little.

“I had him carry you home since I obviously couldn’t do it myself.”

“Oh, okay…” Levy muttered under her breath not enjoying him eyeing her room. “Can I leave now?” Gray asked walking over to the bed as he looked down at the two.

Levy sat up, feeling a little dizzy. “Oh, here.” Lucy grabbed a cup from Levy’s nightstand, ignoring Gray’s question before handing it to Levy. The girl drank the water, not sure why Lucy haven’t kicked Gray out of Levy’s room yet. She didn’t enjoy having him presence when something very personal were happening to her.

“Do you have soup?” Lucy asked, and Levy shook her head. They haven’t had soup present in the house for a while and Lucy groaned before getting up. “I need you to watch Levy for me, make sure she doesn’t sneeze too many times, cough, or get a fever, got it?” Lucy commanded Gray before leaving out Levy’s room. The bluenette sighed before looking at the boy, putting the cup down and rolling onto her back.

“Could you not help but put on a shirt at least?” Levy asked but it wasn’t really a complaint just something to say to pass by the time.

“I’m sorry, it’s not like I planned on leaving my room today specially to take care of someone I know nothing about beside the fact you have a very unusually large book collection in your room.” Gray snapped, looking out the window to his room. Levy ran a hand through her hair, redoing her ponytail. “Can you pass me a book?”

“I’m not on duty for that, so no.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll get it myself.” Levy groaned as she got out of her bed. She felt weak but she wasn’t planning on showing it. Moving slowly, she went to the closest bookcase to her bed, looking at the names on the side of the books before picking one. Regretting her choice when it felt heavier than usual but she continued to her bed with it in hand. Her legs gave out and she expected a fall, closing her eyes tight. But she felt something wrapped around her waist and she opened her eyes to look up to Gray who didn’t seem to care. “Thanks,” she whispered before he helped her the rest of the short way to her bed.

“Are you always like this?” He grumbled and she felt the urge to shake her head, of course she wasn’t always like this. He felt her forehead before sighing and moving back over to her desk. Her feet dangled on the side of her bed, wishing Lucy was back already. She never felt so awkward in her room in a long time, she remembered the first time she came to this room when they moved in, she was around five, she hated how much room there were in the room, it made her felt really small. Her mom suggested a lot of options for the little blue haired girl; toys, games, even beanbag chairs and a TV. But she didn’t like any of those options, it didn’t appeal to her. Until every night for a week her mom would come in her room and read bedtime stories to the little girl, and that when she decided she wanted her first bookcase with all her favourite stories to keep her company since it was the only thing that didn’t make her feel small and awkward.

“Please don’t try, okay? I’m not like you or your friends, I don’t have a lot of people to talk to or hang out with or feel normal around. I only have Lucy and I’m okay with that. I don’t need you trying to get to know me for Lucy’s sake or anything, I’m fine with not being apart of that.” Levy whispered after a long while, not sure if he would even hear her or not. She bit her lip before laying back down and getting under her covers. She grabbed her glasses from her nightstand and opened the book to her favourite story in it. She just read it, coughing here and there. She was halfway done when Lucy came back, taking the book from Levy. “Here,” she hands her friend a bowl waiting for her to sit up. Levy took it cautiously already knowing it was hot soup. The blonde then hands Gray a plate, _lasagna_.

“Did you really go all the way home to bring me soup and him lasagna?” Levy asked before blowing and taking a spoonful.

“Yes, yes I did. You know if your parents were here they would have your cabinets stock with soup all the time so don’t give me that. You need to keep this in the house, I’m actually very ashamed of Jellal for not doing it himself.” Lucy lectured.

“Well, they’re not here and Jellal been busy.”

“I know that, which is why you have me.” Lucy smiled as she saw next to Levy. “Listen to me, I’m doing this for the better not the worse. I know how bad this can get and I don’t want you to ever go through that again. So make sure you sleep properly or at least not pull an allnighter again.”

“Got it,” Levy looked up at Lucy before eyeing over to Gray who was sitting at her desk now.

“Oh yeah, Gray, you can leave now. Your service is no longer needed.” Lucy spoke cheerily. Gray looked at the two girl with a mouthful of food. When he was done, he sat up. “I’m actually going to finish this first and then go home. Thanks for the food.” He smirked before going back to eating.

Lucy looked at Levy and shrugged, “I’m staying until Jellal gets home.”

“Okay, he said he gets off at 3.”

“In the morning?”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I will be getting more into Levy's health probably in the next chapter or so which I am very excited about.


	4. Secrets

Levy stayed home on Sunday, Lucy not letting her go anyway after Jellal left for work in the afternoon. Levy mostly read books like any other day at her desk while Lucy was either on her phone with someone, texting, or trying on new outfits her father got her after her homework was done. Levy didn’t mind it; she never did but she also didn’t enjoy being stuck in her room all day either. But the same thing happened on Monday, she wasn’t able to go to school according to Jellal since she was still weak.

Levy switched between her bed and desk, reading books and getting on her laptop. Lucy promised to call her during lunch time and Levy didn’t bet on it. Levy was eating leftover pizza by the time it got around lunchtime. She was messing around with codes when she got a phone call, she answered without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey, so I got detention so I’m going to be late coming over. Also I spoke to Jellal–”

“You been doing better with speaking to him, proud of you.”

“Whatever, anyway he said he had a study date while stressing out it wasn’t an actual date so he might come home a little later because of that. College stuff.” Lucy laughed and Levy sighed.

“So when does detention ends?”

“Um, no clue. Got to go, bye.” Levy heard a click and sighed again, of course something was probably happening and Levy didn’t want to hold Lucy up. Levy was becoming very bored once again, she managed to read all her books already and she didn’t feel like getting on her e-reader as she read the books from there on her laptop while coding things. She decided to just go downstairs and watch TV instead, it sat there all day and they never used it anymore. They never really had a reason to, they were never really sick – at least Jellal wasn’t and Levy was normally too tired to even get downstairs because she always found out about being sick a little too late.

This was probably the first in a long time she found out she was on the verge of getting sick before actually being sick. She flipped through the channels, not finding anything good on before turning it off. She didn’t know why she even tried watching TV. She laid on the couch, drifting off.

When she woke up, she was under a blanket. She looked at her watch, it was 4 in the afternoon. She heard chattering from her kitchen so she got up with the blanket wrapped around herself as she made her way to the kitchen. She leaned against the doorframe as she saw Jellal, Ultear and Gray. “Hey,” she murmured. Jellal looked up and smiled a little. “Hey Lev, how you feel?”

“Could be better, you know me.”

“I’m taking you to the doctor tomorrow, okay?”

“You have school, and I’ll probably be better by tonight.”

“Levy…” Jellal spoke in a warning tone.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Levy rolled her eyes before looking over to Ultear and Gray who was looking at her. She waved at them before going upstairs, not sure what to say to them. When she got in her room her mind started wondering why was Gray and Ultear at their house to begin with? She sat back at her desk before she heard a knock on her door, she turned around in her seat before telling them to come in. She raised her brow when she saw Gray walk in. “Um, well I got your homework and notes and things since Lucy was in detention, she asked me to bring them to you since I live next door to you.” He sounded as if he was trying to stay cool but was really awkward, something Levy knew very well.

She watched as he took some papers and a notebook out of his bag before handing it to her. She smiled at him, taking it. “Thanks, you didn’t have to do this you know.”

“I was here yesterday, you looked like shit.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say to me.”

“Basically, I somewhat understand how sick you are. You almost fell yesterday just for being up for about two minutes. That’s not normal, Levy.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Does that happens often?”

“Do you think I’m actually going to answer that?” Levy chuckled, putting the notebook and papers on her desk as she tried to wrap the blanket better around herself.

“No, but it won’t make me stop asking questions because sooner or later you’re going to feel the need to answer them.”

“Why are you so sure about that?”

“I just _know_.” He shrugged and Levy couldn’t help but giggle a little. “That’s so stupid, Fullbuster.”

“Are we going to call each other by last name now, McGarden?”

“Maybe, would you prefer _Silver_?”

“Do not bring that back, holy shit Levy. That was weird for me.”

“No one ever called you Silver?”

“Before you? No, never. Not even Ultear and she takes a crack at me as much as she can when she’s not being a caring sister.”

“So you and your sister have a close relationship?”

“Why do you think I’m going to answer that?” He teased and the girl blushed.

“Throwing my words at me, huh? Well, good job. You get an A plus for that. But my question is, how did you manage to get all my homework and know all my classes?” Levy asked, leaning on the back of her chair.

“Well, there’s a secret in that, ready?” Gray smirked and she nodded, “I’m actually in all of your classes but you never noticed me obviously because if you did, you would have known that.”

Levy mouth would have dropped if her head wasn’t resting on her arm. “I, um, wow, how have I never noticed that?” The small girl thought about all those times she was in class, of course she wouldn’t remember Gray being in any of them, she didn’t pay attention to the students. She barely paid attention to the teacher. “No clue, really. But anyway, that’s my notebook and I will need it back later so I can do my own homework.” He put his hands in his coat pockets.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, we can blame this on the sickness but if you want, you can do your homework here. I could do my homework while you do yours and that way we can get them both done now and just in case I don’t understand your notes, okay?” Levy offered, even though it was mostly benefiting herself when it came to the notes but she also still didn’t like the boy’s company that much. He made her feel more awkward than normal and she didn’t know why. She grabbed the papers and his notebook before sitting on her bed, patting the spot next to her. She saw him hesitate and she couldn’t blame him. After a little while of him standing there with an arched brow at her, he sat down and got comfortable, taking his coat off. He put it to the side before taking his notebook and opening to a page and started explaining to her the notes. She put her glasses on and her hair in a ponytail as she listened, read, and nod to show him that she was in fact paying attention.

After a while of that and them actually getting their work done – quicker than Levy ever did alone, they were both pretty tired. She coughed here and there and yawned as she leaned against his arm. He looked at her, frowning. “Are you going to go to sleep on me?” He asked, his voice unreadable in her current state. But she didn’t assume he was happy about it so she attempted at shaking her head. “Thank you again for the homework and stuff,” she mumbled to him. He nodded a little even though he knew she wasn’t looking up at him. She started to doze off, she was so worn out. That was proof that she wasn’t fully better from the day before.

“Hey, dinner ready.” Jellal spoke, coming into the room.

“I think she’s going to sleep.” Gray replied as he pointed to Levy who eyes were now closed.

“Shit, I waited too late. Do you want me to take her off your hands so you can leave?”

“I think I can manage, so don’t worry.”

“Well, Ultear is downstairs and if you want, you can eat here?” Jellal offered and that was the last thing Levy remembered hearing before she was fully asleep.

* * *

 

Waking up groggy was always a headache for Levy, she yawned first before she looked around her room. She expected for someone to be there waking her up or something but no one was, she woke up on her own. She rubbed her eyes, turning on her back. She thought about what happened before she fell asleep as the light from her window shone through. She got up, making sure to hold onto the first thing she could get her hands onto until she got over to her desk to look at her phone. It was early in the morning, _seven_. She peeked toward Gray’s room, trying to figure out why was he so helpful toward her yesterday. His light was on and she looked down at her phone again, _Tuesday_. She looked up and saw him coming into his room, toothbrush in his mouth as he made eye contact with her. She was going to go and hide under her covers but he held up one finger as if he could read her mind before leaving his room again. She stood there almost frozen was it from fear or embarrassment? She didn’t know but she was feeling weak so she sat in her chair and waited. He came back a few seconds later before going over to his window, obviously having to get on his bed before he opened his window which made Levy open up her own window.

“How do you feel?” He asked, he didn’t have to yell, it was early and noise travelled very well between the six feet that was separating them.

“I just woke up,” she wasn’t planning on answering his question. She wasn’t sure how she felt beside weak and a little hungry since she missed dinner.

“Why are you so distant when I’m just trying to be nice?”

“I’m not stupid, that’s why. Give me one good reason to think this isn’t for your own personal gain or something like a bet.”

“What is this? A clique book? You know those stupid bets always end up with the guy falling for the girl and them getting in a huge fight because he confessed or she found out and then he confesses his undying love for her and they live happily ever after. That’s stupid and I’m not the kind of guy to purposely try to make someone feel special just to break their heart. Every girl I ever dated or made out with was mutual.” Gray waited for a reply but Levy was awestruck. All of those rumours about this guy that was in front of her was mostly fault it seemed. “Just because you confessed that to me doesn’t mean I like you anymore than before,” she didn’t mean to sound playful but she knew it came out that way when Gray chuckled.

“I have to get ready for school, something you have the pleasure to not attend again. Lucky.” He closed his window and Levy closed hers before going back over to her bed. She laid down and groaned, she couldn’t believe that this was becoming her life now. Everything was simpler before he moved next door to her even though she would have still gotten sick but she just wanted to scream. She rolled onto her stomach and buried her head in her pillow, life was getting complicated, she couldn’t handle complication that wasn’t trying to code something she knew nothing about or a different language she decided to pick up to learn. But friendships? Other people? That was the simplest thing in her life, she had Lucy and only Lucy and she was okay about it until a pit formed in her stomach making her get back up and over to her desk to look at her phone. No notifications… Her heart sunk, _did Lucy even come over?_ She wondered before leaving her room and to Jellal’s, knocking on his door. She leaned against the wall next to it waiting on him to open it. When he opened it, it was obvious he hasn’t been up for long. “Did Lucy come over yesterday?” She blurted out, chewing on her lip. He looked at her worried, before sucking in a breath. “She didn’t…” He waited for her to react but she just nodded. “I’m going to go get breakfast, okay?” She faked a smile and he just looked at her confused. She walked down the stairs, holding onto the railing.

After getting leftovers, she sat on her couch and ate in silence while drinking a cup of water. She knew if she went upstairs and back in her room she would probably check Lucy’s social media accounts and see why she couldn’t be bothered to come over and check on Levy but that could have been because Levy knew Lucy probably had better things to do than check on the bluenette.

She sucked it up and went back upstairs and grabbed a change of clothes to go do her daily routines. After her shower she went to her room, putting her shoes on before looking for her glasses. _Where did they go?_ And then she remembered she fell asleep with them on but she wasn’t wearing them when she woke up. Sighing, she went to Jellal’s room again and knocked. It took him longer this time to answer the door as she was sitting next to it this time when he answered. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering if you knew where my glasses were at.”

“Let me go get those for you.” Her brother smiled before going into her room but it took her a little to get up and steady herself before following him where she saw him take it off one of her bookcases and hand them to her. “Thank you, J.”

“No problem Lev. Your appointment is in an hour.”

“Okay, let me just get a book and we can go.” Levy went over to the bookcase next to her bed before picking out a book and then her e-reader out. She double checked to make sure it was on the e-reader, something she did often, buying the same book twice for her e-reader and for a physical copy. She put her e-reader back in her purse and put her glasses and phone in there before leaving her room and going downstairs. Jellal was twirling his keys in the kitchen before meeting her to the front door for they to leave to get to her appointment early.

After her appointment they were sitting in Jellal’s car. “So your immune system got worse instead of better like they thought…” He sighed, remembering the doctor’s words.

“I just have to eat better and do everything my doctor told me to do, this is nothing.” Levy tried to cheer her brother up but it didn’t seem like it was working.

“Levy, you know I love you more than anything. But this isn’t something that’s going away anytime soon.”

“I know that, Jellal! God, do you think I don’t understand how messed up this is? It’s really fucking messed up and I can’t do anything about it and neither can you. What’s done is done and we have to live with it and deal with it and I just have to do better, work harder, I…” Levy groaned, covering her face. She tried not to cry, wishing for her parents, wishing for everything to just get magically better but it wasn’t going to happen.

“Please don’t cry, sis…” Jellal was concerned, rubbing her back.

“I just want them back… I just want everything to get back to normal…” She couldn't hold back the tears, leaning into her brother as he wrapped his arms around her. “You’ll be fine… I got you.” He kissed the top of her head before looking at her in her eyes. “You’re the strongest person I know, Levy. That won’t ever change because of this, you always beat this and you will do it again.” He whispered, and she nodded as she wiped her eyes. “Okay…” She sniffed before leaning back in her seat and he took deep breaths before taking them home. He dropped Levy off after she told him to go to school, she’ll be okay.

She went to her room, taking her shoes off and laying on her bed. Taking out her phone, she texted Lucy; ‘ _I went to the doctor’s. I’m getting worse._ ’ She sighed after sending it. She just wanted to stay in bed and disappear or sleep, but she stayed up, waiting for a text from Lucy. It was only ten so she had at least another hour before Lucy had lunch and she knew Lucy always checked her phone during lunch. It was a common thing that Levy could predict the exact moment and time Lucy would pull out her phone to get on in.

* * *

 

Levy didn’t remember falling asleep but she felt better when she woke up. Her phone was in her hand, gripping it to the point her knuckles were whiter than normal. She checked to see if there was a text or phone call but nothing appeared. She decided to unlock her phone to make sure the text went through and it did, her heart dropped when it said Lucy actually read it. She wondered was that on purpose but Lucy wouldn’t do that to her, right? Levy shook her head, looking at the time. It was only one in the afternoon, so school was still in session. She got up and went over to her desk not wanting to do anything, she knew Jellal was probably in his college classes by now since he only had one high school class. Levy wished she was in school, something to take her mind off her thoughts and doubts about her friendship with Lucy. She was always afraid of Lucy just dropping her as a friend, after all she was trying to get to a higher status in their school and maybe she would start thinking Levy was deadweight for not wanting the same thing. After all everyone else was so willing to drop Levy out of their lives the first chance they got.

Levy went downstairs to get something to eat, opening the fridge she expected it to be empty but her eyebrow arched when it was practically full. She couldn’t remember the last time the fridge was stocked; _her parents were still alive then_. The thought made her lose her appetite, her thoughts went there a lot lately. It only been a year but some days it felt like it happened last week, sometimes she was able to joke about how Jellal and Lucy acted like a ‘parent’ but on some days it was a sensitive subject for her. She was crying as she thought about her parents, it felt like a burden. She wiped her eyes and grabbed a premade parfait that she didn’t know that something you could actually buy or something Jellal would get.

She sat at the island, eating it as she tried to think of something happy. She was supposed to pick up her check that day and then she could get a new book. She grinned, a new book always cheered her up, it was the only thing she enjoyed more than anything beside coding. She was out of her sour mood until she realises that she probably shouldn’t drive and she probably wouldn’t be able to walk to her job and then the bookstore without passing out in her state. She sighed, eating her parfait, looking at her phone to see the time. Only twenty minutes passed, she went to her contacts. Everyone she knew would be in school probably or they probably didn’t have her number anymore. So she decided on another nap, after finishing her food, she threw away the cup before making her way back upstairs. She made a pit stop to the room next to hers. She reached for the handle, her hand shaking badly but she left it alone and went into her room. She put her phone on her desk next to her laptop, she got changed into something more comfortable, shorts and a baggy shirt. She laid back in her bed, getting under her covers and closing her eyes.

She didn’t know how much time has passed as she just twist and turn in her bed. But when she was finally dozing off to sleep her door opened and she sighed. She didn’t want to open her eyes but she knew she had to see who so rudely came into her room. Sitting up, she realised it was just Lucy but even Lucy normally knocked on her door or more like banged. “I thought you was sleeping,” Lucy muttered next to Levy’s bed looking down at her friend.

“I was trying to sleep but you came in,” her voice came out bitter and she wished she didn’t let things get to her too much without her wanting to. Lucy went and turn on her light, “I’m sorry for not texting back, I was busy.”

“It’s okay.” Levy turned to face her wall, not wanting this conversation to continue.

“This is why no one stayed, Levy. Because you just took everything they threw at you, you sucked up to everyone all the damn time and never tried to make things better. You just accepted everything as it was, no one likes that.” Lucy announced.

“Then why the hell are you still here? To make me feel better about life? Well, you can fuck off.” Levy sat up and looked at Lucy who was looking out Levy’s window. “I forgot to tell you, Gray don’t want you looking into his room because he prefers having privacy and I can’t blame him.” The bluenette didn’t need this today, she was already having a shitty day – mostly because of Lucy – but she just wanted sleep now.

“To make myself feel better, have you ever thought about that?”

“If you don’t want to be my friend anymore just tell me goddammit! I don’t care anymore, Lucy! I don’t, if you want me out of your life just fucking say it instead of doing what everyone else did. I don’t want to be a charity case or there just to fucking be there when you have nothing better to do! Just say it already!” Levy shouted, her eyes welling up.

The blonde faced the girl, crossing her arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jellal said you should be better by then,” and with that she was gone. Levy buried her head in her pillow, screaming. She punched her bed repeatedly until she was tired out. Her door opened again and she wasn’t going to lift up her head just in case it was Lucy again. “What the hell happened? I heard you from downstairs and Lucy said you started overreacting but you are the least dramatic person I know,” the voice belonged to her brother which made it worse. She didn’t want to talk to him about this, especially about this. She wasn’t even sure what that was, was her and Lucy still friends? Were they no longer friends? Did she lose the last friend she had? She groaned, her cry muffled by the pillow and then she felt the bed sink next to her, pats on her back. “Everything will be okay, you’ll be fine. If you’re up for it, we can go and get your check and to the bookstore.” Jellal voice was soothing, it was his speciality. She nodded her head a little, the pillow shifting with her. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to go.”

“Okay,” she mumbled before she felt him get up. She waited to hear her door closed before she got up, she didn’t want to get changed or even leave the house for that matter but she wanted a new book so badly so she was going to try and brave the world just for that book. She wiped her eyes, tears still streaming and her vision blurry but she knew where her shoes were at so she easily slipped them on before she grabbed her phone and purse. She went over to her nightstand, grabbing her glasses as she waited to stop crying. Her mind raced about what was going on between Lucy and her, it was out of character for Lucy to act that way. But she tried to think of happier things like the bookstore smell, reading a new story, school, and after awhile the thought wasn’t plaguing her anymore. She wiped the last bit of tears before taking a tissue and blowing her nose. Throwing that in the trash she made her way downstairs, her glasses on and hair pulled back in a ponytail. She knew it was obvious she just got done crying but Jellal wasn’t going to ask so soon she hoped.

* * *

 

Arriving to the bookstore after getting her check and putting it in her bank account made her forget about the conversation with Lucy. Her excitement took over as they parked. She got out and went inside the store, practically skipping in there. She got some sad looks at her job and the bank, she knew she looked like shit but she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She went inside, hearing the familiar bell as she went straight to the counter. “Hello, Levy!” Freed greeted her and she smiled back.

“Hi Freed! Any new shipments?”

“Yeah, we redid the store so now it’s right when you come in.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“You know we always have an opening for you, you are our most loyal costumer and you get discounts on the books.”

“Thank you but I will end up reading more than selling,” Levy chuckled before going to the front of the store to look at the new books. She looked at the titles before reading the summaries to them one by one. When she heard the bell behind her, she assumed it was Jellal. She turned to greet him but the person to walk through the door was someone she didn’t expect to see in a bookstore, Natsu until his black haired friend came in after him. “I just need to grab this book and then off to my house to play video games.” He grumbled to his shorter friend and Levy turned back around, hoping not to be spotted even though they were literally right behind her. She grabbed another book, reading that summary as they walked further into the store and away from her, sighing she hoped to be in the clear. She decided to get that book, the summary catching her attention. She started reading it on the way to the counter to buy it, a habit she couldn’t break so easily. She almost walked into the counter but she counted her steps before putting the book on the counter.

“Hm, I don’t think I have that book in my collection just yet maybe I should buy it for myself.” Freed teased which always made Levy laugh.

“Then how would I be able to read it and tell you how amazing it is?” She challenged, leaning against the counter which made him crack a smile.

“Good point, I’ll just borrow it from you.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time for sure.” She straighten up as she took out her bank card and he ringed up the book.

After buying the book she went back to reading it, wanting to finish the first chapter before leaving the store. She sat in a chair that was always next to the counter – mostly because of her – she started getting deep into the book as the ding went off again. “Levy, are you ready?” Jellal asked, walking straight up to her.

She nodded a little absentmindedly as she was more into the book to actually understand what he was saying to her. She held up a finger as she continued to read, already halfway done with the first chapter. Jellal sighed and went off to look around the store as Levy just let the book take over but then the chapter was over and she sighed, getting up. “Is it any good?” Freed asked and Levy nodded.

“Too good, probably going to try and let this last all week.” She admitted with a small smile before going to look for Jellal who wasn’t in sight anymore. She went to his favourite section when he had to wait on her but to her luck he was there but with Gray and Natsu as they chatted. She was trying to avoid them but the universe always had better plans for her. She walked up to them before tapping Jellal, he looked at her even though he was in midsentence, “you’re ready now?” She simply nodded, smiling a little as she held the book close.

“Are you okay?” Gray wondered and she looked at him, her eyebrows bunching up. “Why would I not be okay?”

“Your eyes are red,” he pointed at her and she thought by now the signs of her crying earlier was long gone but she still managed a smile. “I’m fine, just a side effect of being sick,” she lied which made Jellal shake his head a little.

“We’re going to go; I hope you find that book you were looking for.”

“Me too.” Gray scratched the back of his head and Levy had the need to help him – it was a bookstore after all, her _favourite one_. “What kind of book are you looking for?” The words came out before she could even catch them.

“Um, a book for English, Hamlet.” He sounded as if she caught him off-guard. She didn’t try to dwell on it as she hand her book to Jellal before grabbed Gray's wrist and started walking, it was easy for him to stay behind her, she was short after all. She led him straight to the right section, scanning through the titles quickly before taking the book out and showing him. He looked surprise but he took it from her. “Thank you.”

“I know where almost everything is at,” she admitted.

“I can see that, I’m impressed.” He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. They stood there, looking at each other for a bit until Jellal cleared his throat. Levy didn’t even notice her brother’s presence which made her blush. “Um, yeah, I have to go.” The girl remembered and he nodded.

“I have your homework by the way, do you want me to bring it over or give it to you now?” He wondered.

“Bring it over,” Jellal interrupted.

“Okay, fine with me.” Gray looked over at Jellal but no one moved yet until Levy remembered she was still holding Gray’s wrist and she let go, embarrassed. “See ya,” she quickly made her way out of the section and through the front door, not believing that just happened. Jellal as right behind her, “care to explain what that was about?” He asked when they got to the car.

“I actually don’t know, I don’t even like him!” She blurted out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually really love this chapter so much because of the changes that is happening right now. So much is going to go down very soon and I'm very excited for those things. Also this is the start of where the book summary comes in!


	5. Broken

Levy and Gray was on her bed, doing their homework together. She had her book of Hamlet out since they had to read all of Act 1 for their English class. Levy read most of it out loud and Gray listened, reading the last bit. One thing she realised was he never got on his phone once while they were working even when it went off. She had her legs on his lap as she laid down and listened to him do his math homework, helping whenever he came across a problem she knew the answer to. It was casual for the most part and Levy enjoyed herself. This guy came into her life insulting her and then there they were, on her bed doing homework together as if they knew each other forever.

“Okay, so I’m done. I have to go soon, Natsu and Loke is coming over to play some games.” Gray sighed, and Levy just looked at him. She understood, how could she not? They weren’t even friends. “It’s fine, go have fun.”

“I just have one question before I go.” He faced her which made her worry. What could he possibly ask her now? Another personal question? A completely harmless question – which he hasn’t really done yet. But she became anxious as she motion for him to go on. “How are you and Lucy?”

She didn’t think about that question, she managed not to think about Lucy the entire time he was over. “Um, no clue. Why? Did she say something?” Her words laced with worry.

“No, not exactly to me. But she did mention something to Natsu about you two being in a fight and I didn’t really believe it after what happened on Saturday.”

“Oh…” Levy muttered, her heart sinking. She looked at the ceiling, hoping he wouldn’t say anything else. “How do you deal with it? The rumours and drama and all that?” Levy asked, looking at Gray again her goal was to change the subject before he could ask further questions. But then she remembered he was supposed to be leaving but he shrugged.

“I just don’t let it get to me. I know who my friends are, I know what’s real and what’s a lie. When everyone has an opinion about you, you remind yourself who you really are. Why do you ask?”

“Because I think it’s getting to Lucy, she never acted cold toward me ever. And I don’t know, I don’t want to lose her.” Levy bit her lip as she fully sat up, frowning.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, okay?”

“It’s hard not to, you weren’t there… She’s all I have beside Jellal and it feels like she’s slipping between my fingers and I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” she chuckled hoping to stop herself from saying everything on her mind. Without Lucy to talk to, she didn’t really have a grip on what to and not to say to someone who seemed to actually listen to her again.

He grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “I get it, I really do. Honestly, that’s how I ended up where I’m at. Like I said at the party, sometimes when you’re not on the same level as your friend, they leave you behind. It’s really shitty but it’s true, and sometimes even when you get where they’re at, it doesn’t change anything, you still lose them.”

“What happened?” Levy whispered, not sure if he wanted to talk about it. He had no reason to make her feel better unless it was out of pity of course. But that didn’t cease her curiosity about his troubles.

“Honestly? It’s not worth it,” he let go of her hand before moving her legs off him and got up. “Anyway, I have to go like I said. See ya,” he gathered his things and left. Levy sighed, taking her ponytail out and her glasses off. Her stomach growled but she didn’t feel like going downstairs and get some food at that moment. He had every right, after all she shut down every question he has ever ask her that she deemed too personal.

She didn’t know if she could even _trust_ him, after all she been through she barely trusted Lucy and they been friends since they were in Pre-K. She sighed, what could she possibly lose by letting him in? He was just another person; someone who would probably disappoint her like everyone else in her life. She got up and went downstairs, hoping not to miss him. But when she got to the bottom of the stairs she saw Jellal and Gray in front of the door. “If you hurt her, I will hurt you. She’s going through a rough patch in her life and she doesn’t need someone coming into it messing her up more especially with what’s going on with Lucy.” Jellal voice gave Levy goosebumps just from how threatening it sounded.

“I’m not going to hurt her, you know me. You know those rumours of me going to girl-to-girl isn’t even true, I’m not that kind of person. We knew each other for too long, Jellal.”

“I get that but she is my _sister_. I will protect her as much as I can even if it means making sure those rumours don’t ever become true. She’s all I have left.”

“I get that; I really do but I promise my intentions are purely innocent. I look at her and I see she needs a friend and I know we got off on the wrong foot by me putting my foot in my mouth but I won’t hurt her on purpose, that’s not my goal.”

“What is your goal exactly?”

“To be there for her. Remember what happened with me and Lyon, it seems like the same thing is happening with her and Lucy and I’m trying to prevent that.”

“Shit,” Jellal crossed his arms, “that can’t happen with her. It will tear her apart if it happens.”

“I know that, I really do. But I have to go, okay?” Gray sighed before leaving. Levy quickly made her way into the kitchen before Jellal can see her. She was confused, _who was Lyon?_ The name sounded familiar to her but it wasn’t something she heard recently for sure. She was going through the fridge, wondering if Jellal cooked anything yet. “Dinner is in the microwave,” he called behind her before she heard him go upstairs. She grabbed a bottle of water before going to the microwave, touching the food to see if it was still warm. She then grabbed it and sat at the island to eat. Her thoughts going back to the conversation that just took place a few minutes ago. _Who exactly was Lyon and why was her friendship with Lucy getting compared to him and Gray?_ She wanted to just slam her head in her food but she restrained herself as she remembered she had a new book upstairs that was waiting on her and then school the following day. She finished her dinner and went upstairs to take a shower and all her other routines so she could go to bed. She turned off her light before laying down in her bed, tired after the day she had.

The next morning, she was being shook awake. She muttered things she couldn’t understand herself before she yawned, “I’m up…” She turned around and saw Jellal who was grinning.

“Get ready, you still have time to catch the sunrise.”

“Please do not tell me you woke me up extra early for a sunrise, Jellal.”

“Can’t say that,” he chuckled before leaving her room. She got up, going straight to her window and sitting down. She rubbed her eyes, yawning here and there as she waited. It was always better with coffee in her hands but she didn’t drink coffee on school days, but then she remembered tea. She got up and went over to her phone off her desk texting Jellal who probably had his phone near him before she made her way back to the window and sat back down waiting on a reply. She had about twenty minutes before the sun rose which was enough for tea.

She leaned her head against the window not wanting to be patient, hoping he was making the tea as she sat there and if not, she would just make it later. She dozed off a couple of times before she started seeing the sun rise which perked her up immediately. She grinned, it always brightens her day, it made her feel like there was extreme beauty in the world. After watching it, she checked the time and then got up to get ready for school. After brushing her teeth, combing her hair and changing into a skirt and top that was loose before putting on her flats.

She made sure she had everything she needed in her bag before going downstairs, Jellal was there – struggling with the kettle. She giggled before helping him, she pour herself a cup and put what she wanted in it. "I see you got my text."

"Yeah, I still don't know much about this." He chuckled, turning the stove off. "Time for school," he sighed before grabbing his keys.

"Yeah, long day ahead."

"Just know if you start to feel sick don't hesitate to call or text me and I'll get someone to take you home if I can't."

"Thanks but I feel wonderful!" She spoke to reassure her brother and he nodded. They left the house before getting into their separate cars to go to school. They always arrived to school a few seconds after each other but they were in two different parking lots of the school because of their assigned parking spots. Levy got out, her tea in her hand and her bag hanging from her shoulder as she made her way inside. Her heart dropped when she remembered her locker was right next to Lucy's. She hoped that the blonde wasn't there like everyday applying the last bit of makeup but she wasn't that lucky. She opened her locker, taking whatever wasn't needed until after lunch in there before she closed it and Lucy was looking at her. "Hi," she muttered to the blonde.

"Hey," Lucy sighed as she looked the bluenette up and down.

“Are we still friends?” Levy asked, hopefully. Lucy slammed her locker shut making Levy jump, she had to get reused to that.

“God, you’re such a pushover, Levy. Like anyone can make you think they care about you and then tear you apart from the inside out. You have little goals and you can’t count getting an entire library of books for yourself because that’s a really stupid goal. What are you going to do with your future? You’re literally holding me back, so no. We aren’t friends anymore.” Lucy whispered before walking away. Levy's good day went away at that moment, all she wanted to do was go home now and never leave. She drank some of her tea before she started walking to the cafeteria with her bag slugged on her shoulder. She just wanted to get breakfast and figure out what she was going to do first period, was she going to ask to move her seat or was Lucy? She was doing everything in her power not to cry at that moment, but with her unlucky streak came a much taller blond. “Levy, right?” He asked, making her stop in her tracks.

“Yeah, Laxus.” She tried to make sure her voice didn’t hinted to any of her feelings, why was he even talking to her?

“Is it true that you never kissed someone?” She raised her eyebrow, _what kind of question was that?_

“I’m trying to get to breakfast, can you please move?”

“I’ll let you go if you answer my question,” he crossed his arms. Levy rolled her eyes, _why did he even care?_ She felt someone’s arm go around her shoulder and she looked up to see Gray. “Hey Laxus, can I help you?” He asked and the taller boy who shook his head and walked away. Gray looked down as Levy, a frown on his lips.

“What was that about?”

“Lucy… She wanted to see could Laxus convict you into giving your first kiss to him. Kind of really childish if you ask me but it seems like she’s trying to prove a point right now.” He looked around the hall before back at Levy.

“I’m going to go to breakfast, thanks.” She removed his arm from around her and started walking again, she couldn’t believe what was happening. She wanted to ask what was Lucy trying to prove but she didn’t want to hear anymore of it. Lucy was changing and she wanted to do something about it, but what could she do? She couldn’t just hold Lucy back from what she wanted, that wasn’t what friends did even when they drop you and try to hurt you in the little ways, right? She didn’t know, she was just used to dealing with everything that thrown her way as if it was nothing. She rarely argued with people because she didn’t want to lose them or because she wasn’t one who enjoyed yelling. She hated conflict and complication but she knew if she wanted to try and get Lucy back as a friend, she would have to deal with them both. They been through too much for Levy to just let the friendship die so easy.

After breakfast, she went straight to her first class. She saw Lucy sitting in her normal seat so Levy smiled a little before going to her own that was right next to Lucy’s but before she could sit another girl, hot pink hair took the seat and then smiled at Levy with a small wave. She didn’t think she could feel any shittier than at that moment. She turned around and sat in an empty seat as the students was still coming in, she put her head down and just wanted to cry and her first period didn’t even start yet. She wanted it to go away and just go to the library already. When class started, she lift her head up and did the work before having to hand in their homework. Levy grumbled about how much she just wanted to go home already as she sulked in her sit. She had to force herself not to look over to Lucy but she kept glaring. How could their friendship crumble in three days? There was no warning signs or anything, but then she thought about when she was sick. _Could that be it? Is she too sick for Lucy to stay around?_ She raised her hand and asked to be dismissed for the rest of the class, the teacher knew her situation and agreed. Levy gathered her things as quickly as possible as everyone stared at her.

She hurried out of the class and straight to the bathroom, going into one of the stalls. She sat on the toilet and just sat there. She didn’t want to cry, she wasn’t someone who could cry and pretend it didn’t happen since her eyes always went red for hours and she didn’t know how she could hide that. She took a few deep breaths before getting up and going to the library, it was her safe place after all. When she got there, she put her things behind the counter besides her tea as she continued to drink that slowly. Putting it on the counter she went to work, having her phone to listen to music on a low volume even though no one was there yet. She reshelved the books like she did everyday, humming along to the songs. It helped her finally calm down, she took deep breaths here and there just to keep herself focus. Levy was halfway done when someone tried to take one of the books off the cart and she swatted their hand before she paused her music and looked up and saw Gray with a smirk on his face.

“Do we really have to have this conversation again?” She asked, crossing her arms.

“Nope, I just wanted to get your attention.”

“You got my attention.”

“I saw what happened in class, are you okay?” He sounded concerned and her first instinct was to ignore his question and continue working but then she remembered his conversation with Jellal.

“I don’t want to give up, but I can’t do it. I can’t be apart of your crowd to keep my friendship with her. She’s one of the most important person in my life and I don’t want to lose her but this is a losing battle.” She whispered, barely believing her own words. He rested his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her. “Listen to me, I know we barely know each other and you don’t like me at all but you seem like a really good person and I’m pretty sure Lucy will realise that.”

“And what if she doesn’t? Everyone else realised they were better off without me.” She groaned, before taking the cart to the main desk in the library. She expected Gray to follow her so she wasn’t surprised when he did. She went out of the library when it was in it’s right spot, making sure no one spotted them. “Okay, listen to me, you don’t know what I’m going through or what I been through, yeah you know Jellal, everyone does but no one knows me anymore beside of course, Lucy. She knows me so well that it’s crazy, she knows what to say and do to make me feel like absolute shit and she have been doing exactly that. She prolonged ending our friendship to make feel like it was my fault, and honestly it really does feel like it’s my fault.” Levy admitted, she just wanted to sit down or cry or just disappear as she looked at the door to the library.

She waited for Gray to say something, even if it would make her feel worse than she already did. But he was quiet, too quiet for her liking. “I’m sorry, I get it.” He whispered and she looked at him. He was looking down, she felt the need to hug him but she stood still, wondering if he would say something else. But they stood there for a while, no words, no sound. She made herself step forward and wrap her arms around him, feeling him stiff. She was going to let go but his arms wrapped around her and he became more relax as he rested his head on top of hers. She didn’t want to let go, not realising how much she actually needed that hug but she had to go back to putting books away and he had to get back to class. She hesitantly let go of him before smiling a little at him and he smiled back. She went in first, going back over to the cart and to finish at least one roll of books.

As she was putting books away quickly since there were only ten minutes left, someone walked up to her. At first she didn’t notice until she almost walked into them. “Um, Juvia, hi.” She whispered at the girl, she looked mad and Levy didn’t know why.

“I’m looking for a book,” Juvia spoke as her words sounded cold.

“What book is it?”

“You know what, forget about it.” She smiled at Levy before walking away, leaving Levy confused. She took a deep breath before going back to putting the last bit she could before the bell rung for her lunch period. After the bell rang, she grabbed her things and went to the cafeteria. Then it hit her, _what if Lucy took the table too?_ Levy shook her head a little as she walked, _she wouldn’t be that petty, would she?_ She was getting lost into her thoughts as she got the cafeteria and her food before taking a deep breath and going outside to see the table was empty, she quickly sat down before smiling a little and started eating. But it wasn’t that long before Lucy sat next to her with the pink-haired girl from their first class.

“Levy, meet Meredy.” Lucy pointed to the the girl who just looked disgusted by Levy’s presence. Levy waved a little with a small smile. She felt tinier than normal, wanting to leave but _she had to make a stand right?_ She just wished she had friends that would stand by her like Lucy would normally do. But she didn’t and it made her feel so alone in a crowded place. Lucy and Meredy started talking as if Levy wasn’t even there as she just ate as quiet as possible. For once, she never thought she would wish for Gray to save her but she did wish that.

After she ate, she got up and threw her tray away and just stayed in the cafeteria, wanting for the lunch period to end so she could already go to her next class. She took out her phone and texted Jellal that she was doing good, not wanting him to worry for good reason. She knew half of the day she was on the verge of tears but he didn’t need to know that for sure. She knew he would leave school just to make sure she was okay and she didn’t want that, she was a seventeen-year-old junior who should be able to deal with her own problems. But there she was, not knowing how to deal with any of this. How did she manage to avoid conflict for so long? How did she manage to just let everyone slip through her fingertips out of her life? Was she even likeable? Did everyone only pitied her after they found out how sick she was? When they found out what was happening to her? Probably, because she started to believe it. Jellal was stuck with her by default, would he leave her the first chance he got?

She made her way to the principle’s office and asked could she go home, stomach ache. After she agreed, Levy went straight to her car and drove home. When she parked in the driveway, she screamed and hit her steering wheel rapidly as she cried. She screamed until her throat was raw, cried until she couldn’t anymore, and hit until her hands hurt. She sat back, eyes closed. _What did she ever do to deserve this?_ She wasn’t the one to ask to be premature when she was born, to be sick since she was born, almost dying, getting sick easily to the point it could be deadly for her if she did one wrong thing. She waited until she got a little energy before getting out with her things and going inside her house. She tosses her bag on the couch before going to the kitchen to put her cup in the sink and got a bag of pretzels and a bottle of water before going upstairs to her room. She turned her light on before sitting at her desk, taking her glasses off to put it on the desk, taking her phone out to see a text from Jellal telling her he was happy she was okay – she felt like shit for lying to him.

Levy ate the pretzels and drank half of the bottle of water before she took a nap. When she woke up, she felt only a little better. She still felt mostly drained but most of her negativity wasn’t presence anymore. She got out of her bed and got changed into sweatpants and a long sleeve sweater before going downstairs to get something to eat. She stopped in her tracks when she heard the TV and laughter, it almost scared her. The bluenette made a pit stop to their living room to see who could possibly be watching TV. She was surprised to see it was Jellal and Erza, they never hung over Jellal and Levy’s house anymore. She smiled a little before going to the kitchen before they could spot her, making herself a bowl of cereal. She sat at the island as she heard the two laughed, it warmed her heart to hear people laugh in their house again. Then she heard the doorbell go off and she wanted to be curious but she also wanted to avoid everyone. After she ate her cereal, she cleaned after herself as she faintly heard voices before trying to go upstairs in the clear.

“Levy!” Jellal called which made her stop in her tracks before turning around and walking to the living room, seeing Gray. “Yes, Jellal?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you left school early?” His arms were crossed and he had that ‘father’ look on his face as if he was ready to scowl her.

“I didn’t want you to worry, you worry too much.”

“I worry for a really good damn reason, Levy.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m a wreck, you have to make sure I stay on track.”

“You’re my little _sister_ , I care about your well being and I want you to be okay at the end of the day.”

“You know you can’t try to protect me forever, right? One day you’ll be gone like everyone.” She spoke quietly before running up the stairs and to her room. She sat on her bed knowing she shouldn’t have said that especially to Jellal but that how she felt so she wasn’t in the wrong, right? She wasn’t sure anymore, she wished she had her parents to tell her what to do, had Lucy to tell her how she should feel, had someone to make her feel better instead of worse and doubting everything she knew.

 _A chain reaction_ …

She was going to go downstairs to see was he still there so she could apologise but her door opened. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” she said but then she saw it wasn’t even Jellal, “I thought you were my brother…”

“I’m not sure should I feel weird about that or not…” Gray spoke before chuckling. “Well, I came over to give you your homework from class that you missed.”

“Thanks, I still don’t understand why you’re so nice to me. After all it’s not like Lucy is making you do these things for me.”

“Have you ever thought that I might just be a nice guy?”

“Hm… Nope.” She joked, smiling a little.

“Funny,” he faked a laugh. He took a couple of papers out of his bag before handing it to her. She took them, looking over them. “Are you going to stay and do your homework with me or do you have something more important to do?” She wondered, not looking up from the pages.

“I actually don’t have anything to do until tonight so I’m free as can be.”

“Don’t your mom or sister worry about you?”

“I’m eighteen, they know I can handle myself.” He chuckled before sitting next to her and she looked over at him. “That makes sense,” she nodded a little.

“Anyway let’s get started on History.” He grinned and she just smiled back.

* * *

Levy wasn’t surprised that they always ended up in the same position, her legs across his lap as they both worked. They made small talk when they paused between problems and taking a small break. Jellal came in but decided to wait to talk to Levy until after Gray leaves. When they finished their homework, Levy sat up and took her legs off him. “What kind of view do you get in your other window?” He asked.

“A great view especially during sunsets and sunrises.”

“Oh? I bet it could be a great place to talk at.” Gray decided to get up and sit on her bench in the window. Levy giggled at how uncomfortable he seemed from trying to fit his feet on the bench with him but Levy knew it was no use, she couldn’t stretch her legs when she sat there since it wasn’t as long as she would have liked it. She walked over to him as he gave up. “This arrangement will not work out,” he muttered before swinging his legs back on the floor. Levy decided to make a bold move and sit on his lap, looking out her window. “This is an arrangement I could get use to,” she joked before looking at him as she let her arms hang on each of his shoulders. He chuckled before holding her waist.

“Feeling better?” She chortled and he just nodded a little with a smile.

“This is what happens when you suggest to talk in my window.”

“Don’t think it will stop me, I will find a way.”

“Nice determination.” Levy sighed, feeling light and almost worry free. She looked into his eyes, asking herself what it would be like to have him. Her cheeks flushed as she felt her heart pounding, wondering if he could hear it too. Before she thought it through, she leaned down, closing her eyes as she softly pressed her lips to his. _Her only references were from books and a few movies._ She knew she shouldn’t have done it but before she could pull away and apologise, he kissed her back. _Why did he kiss her back?_ All she could smell was citrus and then she tasted of mint mixed with cherry. His lips were softer than she could even imagine before. It felt like Spring rain, a breeze on Summer day at the beach, the leaves falling in Autumn, and those Winter nights drinking hot cocoa, all of her favourite things in just a moment. It felt like forever when it was only a few seconds before she pulled away.

She wasn’t that out of breath, imagining that if she really wanted to, she could have it went a little longer. She rested her forehead on his, missing his lips against hers and she didn’t like the idea or feeling. “I’m sorry for not asking first,” she muttered before he could say anything first.

“Honestly, it’s fine. That was really good for your first kiss…” He sounded surprised and it made Levy blushed more as she bit her lip which still tasted like him but also like kiwi from her lip balm.

“I read a lot of books that had kissing.”

“You’re telling me the only references you have of kissing is in books?” He said before chuckling.

“Shush,” she pressed her finger to his lips, “that could have probably been a hot mess if I didn’t read so much.” She removed her finger before finally opening her eyes. She wondered how did he keep calm so well, he looked nonchalant as he looked into her eyes. She felt almost exposed which made her to sit back fully on his lap, wondering how long was they going to sit there. _Would they even talk about what that kiss mean or would it just be a running joke between the two?_ She didn’t even know if she had romantic feelings for him but she did know she appreciated him trying to be her friend. _Could that be why she kissed him?_ She didn’t know anymore, everything seemed to blend into each other. “Hey, what time is it?” He asked after a long silence. She looked at her watch, “almost seven.”

“Shit, I gotta go. Hey, do you have my number?”

“Um, no? How would I possibly have your number?”

“You could literally ask anyone for my number,” he chuckled before she got up. He stood up before going over to her bed, grabbing his phone. She went to her desk to grab her own before turning to him as he came up to her. “Put your number in my phone and I’ll do the same, okay?” She nodded before unlocking her phone to give him it.

After they exchanged numbers, he texted her and then got his bag and left. Levy sat on her bed before feeling something under her. _His jacket_ , she grabbed it before going downstairs hoping to catch him before he was gone, hoping that Jellal held him back a little but to her luck, she was too late. She sighed, texting Gray about his jacket before hanging it up on their coat rack. She went into the kitchen to where Jellal were at. “I’m sorry,” she blurted out before he could say anything.

“I know you didn’t mean it, Lev. But I understand you’re going through a hard time right now because of what’s happening with Lucy and you getting sick earlier this week. It’s completely understandable for you to lash out here and there, you keep too many things bottled up. That’s not healthy, sometimes you should really talk about how you feel.”

“Do you talk about how you feel?”

“I actually do; Erza is always willing to listen as I am for her.”

“Is that why Erza was over here?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Jellal continued to cook she assumed mac and cheese even though it looked a little _off_. “Do you even remember how to make mac and cheese?” She wondered which made Jellal laugh. “Of course I remember how to make mac and cheese; it doesn’t look _great_ during the prepping process. Anyway, are you busy tomorrow?”

“Reminder my only friend ended our friendship.”

“You and Gray seems like friends. But that’s not important, Ultear invited us over to eat dinner with them.”

“When?”

“Today, she’s goes to college with me. We saw each other in between classes.”

“Oh, that’s cool. But yeah, I’m free.” Levy went to the fridge, taking out a few grapes. “I’ll tell her, now get out of here before you start criticising my cooking again.” She snickered before going upstairs. She checked her phone to see she had a text from Gray when she was still in the kitchen telling her to keep his jacket. She didn’t understand why he would tell her that, wouldn’t he want it back? What did he expect her to do with it? She didn’t try to think about it too much but she rather think about his jacket than the kiss.

But that's exactly what she did until dinner was ready, thought about the kiss. He was a good kisser, why did kissing him reminded her of all of her favourite things of the seasons? Why did she enjoy it so much? She pressed two fingers to her lips, groaning before getting up to go downstairs for dinner. What was wrong with her? She made sure to avoid most conversations with Jellal, doing her best to dodge questions that could possibly make her talk about what happened. It almost worked. “Why is Gray’s jacket here?”

“He left it.”

“Oh?”

“He was in a rush, no big deal.” She shrugged, hoping Jellal would drop the conversation. “Okay,” he said letting the subject drop as he went back to his food. Levy felt relieved before she too went back to eating. They talked about classes and what Jellal’s plans were for the weekend. When they finished, Levy washed the dishes telling Jellal he should go to sleep since he had an early class for college. She got her clothes before she did her nightly routine and going back to her room. She looked through her window over her desk to see if Gray home but his light was off so she went to bed, already tired.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, she almost forgotten the events of yesterday until it came rushing back to her, _kiss, jacket, Gray_. She wondered how badly did she fuck up to the point she groaned, covering her face with her pillow. She took her watch from her nightstand and checked the time. It was only six-thirty. The sun was surprisingly already up which made her get up to get ready for school. She went to see if Jellal was up and ready, but he was already gone. His room was empty, she wondered how did he keep his room so neat and in order when her room tended to have a few books lying around or her shoes in the wrong place.

Levy got her outfit for the day before doing her morning routine and getting dressed. She went to put on her flats that she normally wore that she made sure to keep next to her desk or bed – today it was next to her desk. She slipped those on before out of habit looking up through her window. When she spotted him though, she looked back down. Her face probably flushed, he had every right after all to not wear a shirt in his own house. She put her hair in a ponytail before making sure all of her things in her bag. She felt like someone was staring at her so she looked up to see Gray was in fact looking at her. She arched her brow as he had his window opened as if waiting for her to do the same. The bluenette decided to open her window to see if he wanted to talk or not as a cool breeze came in. “Hey,” he spoke with a small grin.

“Hi,” she spoke shyly.

“So about my jacket, if you want you can wear it. It feels like it going to be a cold day.”

“Are you sure?” She wasn’t sure if he was just messing with her or being serious. It was hard when he seemed to always keep a straight face and his voice always in a nonchalant manner beside little smiles and smirks here and there.

“Yeah, why not? We are friends now, right? It’s probably going to be big so don’t forget to roll up the sleeves.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it.” He closed his window and Levy followed suit before taking deep breaths. She still didn’t fully understand why he was being nice to her even after his conversation with Jellal she was still kind of surprised by everything he did when it came to herself. She shook her head before grabbing her bag, phone and glasses. Putting her glasses in her bag, she checked her notification, of course Jellal texted her to tell her he was going to leave earlier than normal while she was still asleep. She should of make a habit out of checking her phone first before anything when it came to Jellal. But she also had another text that she got at 10pm from Lucy asking could they talk. Levy balled up her other fist, trying to keep calm. _Why would Lucy need to talk? Didn’t she say enough?_ Levy left it alone as she went downstairs, grabbing Gray’s jacket and out of the house to go to school. She had to admit to herself that it was a surprisingly comfortable jacket. But she knew this was probably a temporally thing and so she didn’t want to get too comfortable in it. When she got to school, she slung her bag over her shoulder before going in, knowing she would probably be facing Lucy since she probably got there earlier than herself since they haven’t carpooled.

Levy strolled down the hall, there wasn’t that many people. It was still early after all, making her check her watch, see it was a little after seven. When she got to her locker, the blonde was in fact there already. The bluenette was ready to ignore her of course, she hurt her badly but she still cared about the blonde, how could she not? “What did you wanted to talk about?” Levy finally spoke, knowing Lucy probably didn’t even notice the shorter girl. Lucy closed her locker before looking at the other girl. It scared Levy that the blonde closed her locker instead of slamming it, she knew it was bad after all she wanted to talk to Levy when she had an entire group of friends to talk to. Levy opened her own locker, organising her things before looking at Lucy. She looked sad, too sad for Levy’s liking – but shouldn’t she be happy about that? She was hurting like she hurt Levy but Levy wasn’t that kind of person, she still cared about all of her old friends even the ones he dropped her out of their lives when they were in elementary school and middle school.

“Natsu is dating Meredy… She asked him out and he said yes. He told me that they wouldn’t be official until he ended things with me and so he did… After leading me on and I feel like shit, I should have listened to you. I should have just said yes to him.”

“But wait, he was just penning after you like just last week, what happened in that time?”

“They have a history, they dated in sophomore year and yeah… I just don’t know what to do and I shouldn’t have been so cruel toward you, I’m sorry… I just, Meredy got in my head I guess. She was the reason I didn’t say yes to Natsu at first, she told me I would never be fully accepted into their group if I still had you around…”

“So you were willing to choose them or over me?” The heavy feeling of her heart came back as she realised how replaceable Lucy saw her.

“I know I fucked up, I know that and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“How did I know you’re not just saying this to make me forgive you just for you to stab me in the back again? How can I trust you after what you did to me?”

“Levy, we been through everything together, please trust me.” Lucy took both of the shorter girl’s hand but Levy removed her hands from Lucy’s hold. “I need time,” Levy muttered as she looked down.

“Take your time, you have every right to mistrust me. But I’m not the only person you shouldn’t trust.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that’s Gray’s jacket, everyone could point that out after all he wears that one the most.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I first planned this chapter to be 3k words but I ended up going over 7k words... anyway, levy is starting to doubt everything and that will make things more complicated in the next/few chapter(s). also i fangirled so much writing the kiss (that was the first kiss I ever written in detail so if it not that great - that's the reason why.) but that kiss will also play a great deal for things to escalate more.


	6. Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry for taking so long for uploading this chapter, it not completely proofread but i did my best and it's like 12k words and i'll be working on the next chapter after posting this one.

Levy thought Lucy had been lying about the jacket, but she soon realised that Lucy was right when everyone started whispering and pointing at her. She didn’t like the feeling of people obviously speaking about her; some made sure she would hear them, and others did it more subtly, but their friends didn’t. During breakfast, Lucy wasn’t sitting at the table which made Levy a little on edge. Even though she didn’t forgive the blonde, knowing that people were staring at her made her very anxious. She kept her head down until she heard someone set a tray on the table. She looked up and saw Gray, who didn’t have his normal composure and seemed annoyed.

“What’s wrong with you?” Levy muttered, moving her food around.

“Rumours, as always. Nothing you should worry about.”

“Let me guess, it’s about us? People have been pointing out the fact I’m wearing your jacket. Why didn’t you tell me this was your favourite one?” She whispered.

“I didn’t think it was important, and I also never considered the idea that the whole school knew that fact.”

“But if this is your favourite jacket why are you letting me wear it?”

“We’re friends.” He shrugged and she sighed but started eating. They sat there together in silence until the bell rung. She got up with her tray before throwing it away. She planned on ignoring everyone that stared and whispered about her even though it didn’t make her less anxious. She repositioned her bag on her shoulder before she walked to class. She kept her head down, pretending to be on her phone as she walked through the hallway. She was there before Lucy so she took her own seat, doubting that Lucy would even allow Meredy to sit next to her again.

Levy was taking out the things she needed for class when someone sat next to her. She turned and saw it was Meredy, who raised a brow. “So, you and Gray Fullbuster?”

“You and I aren’t friends,” Levy replied.

“Natsu is Gray’s best friend, so if you and Gray are dating, we obviously need to get along.” Meredy grinned but then Lucy came over. “You’re in my seat, move.” The blonde sneered at the pink-haired girl who rolled her eyes and got up. “I’m sorry? Are you jealous, because you were too stupid to go after Natsu?” Meredy said for everyone in the class to hear. Levy looked around to see there weren’t that many people in the room, which made her feel a bit better.

“No, no one would be jealous of you.” Lucy smiled, and finally, Meredy left them alone. Lucy sat down in her seat looking victorious. “Can you believe that girl?” Lucy whispered with a chuckle and Levy looked at Lucy again. “I really am sorry, believe me. And I know that you and Gray aren’t dating, too. You don’t deserve to be a part of this drama just for rumours over a jacket.”

“If that’s your way of trying to make me forgive you, it’s going to take more than that.” Levy had to keep herself strong, not sure if Lucy was just trying to get back to being friends just to make Levy feel even worse about herself. Levy looked around the classroom as the class started and her eyes landed on Gray who was looking at her. She waved a little at him and he waved back then she faced forward to pay attention to the lesson but she couldn’t help a small smile that stayed with her.

When class ended, she packed her things up and looked over to Lucy. “I’ll forgive you on one condition.”

“What condition is that?”

“Don’t ever make me feel like I did something wrong when I didn’t, and especially don’t ever let someone influence you to be an ass to me.”

“I can definitely do that, and I also promise to be there with you whenever you’re sick no matter what happens. I won’t ever abandon you when you need someone the most.”

“Good.” Levy hugged her friend and Lucy hugged her back. “When it comes to our friendship, I won’t let anyone get in my head.”

“I hope not. You were the only one to stand by me besides Jellal, I can’t lose you.” 

“But at least now you have one more person to count on.”

“If you’re talking about Gray, I doubt it. He’s probably going to leave when things get really bad.” Levy whispered so no one beside Lucy could hear her. “Anyway, I have to get to the library and you have to get to History.”

“That’s true. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” They let each other go before they left the class, they were the last two to leave. Levy made her way to the library, happy. Even though a part of herself said she forgave Lucy too early, but how could she not? Her thoughts continued to plague her until she got behind the desk in the library. There were no books on the cart, so it was the perfect chance for her to read the book she had gotten earlier that week from the bookstore. She was finishing up a chapter when the sound of someone clearing their throat made her look up.

“Hey Gray,” she whispered.

“Hey. I was wondering if you could suggest some books for me.” He whispered back and she arched an eyebrow. It was the first time she had ever seen him actually want a book in all the times he’d approached her in the library. “Okay, what kind of books do you like?”

“I’m an all-around kind of guy. What are your favourites?”

“I don’t really have any favourites that I know of, but I can show you some books that you might like.” Levy got up, bookmarking her page before going to the first section with Gray following her. She took out a book that she had read many times before she even had it in her own personal library. She handed him the book and he took it and read the front and back of it before smiling a little. “Okay, I’ll read it.” Levy nodded a little, trying not to look excited because for all she knew he could hate the book when he was done with it.

She went back to the desk, going behind it while he stood in front of it. He handed her a library card and she scanned it before scanning the book. She took the stamp and stamped the return date on it before handing it to him. “Enjoy your read.” She gave him a quick smile before sitting back down and going back to reading her book.

A few more people checked out books and she was happy to do something so she wouldn’t read all of the books before the end of the day. When the period was up, she gathered her things and walked out of the library. She texted Jellal that she was doing good and that for once she would be staying in school the entire day, and also that she and Lucy were on semi-good terms, hoping he would believe her even after what had happened.

Levy got her lunch and sat at her table. She ignored the comments, knowing what was real and what was false and that she didn’t have to explain herself to people who never even noticed her, let alone knew who she was as a person. She waited for Lucy, feeling very uneasy about the fact she wasn’t there yet. Did she lie to her already or was Levy just being very anxious for no reason? The latter won when Lucy slammed down her tray next to the blue haired girl.

“So I decided to make a very bold move and ask your brother to the movies, but I also might have invited you and a friend.” Lucy sighed. Levy knew Lucy had been waiting for her to freak out and that was exactly what she did. “You do know the last time I went to the movies was three years ago, right? What do I even do at the movies? Am I the one that gets the popcorn or does someone else do it? Is everything still very expensive there or do I just not have very much money? W–.”

“Calm down, Lee. God, I wish I never brought it up, but it was the only way for me to spend time with Jellal in a date-type setting.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me you still like Jellal? What about Natsu?”

“We both know that I will always have feelings for Jellal, but also that he thinks I’m too young for him since he’s nineteen and I’m seventeen, but next year I turn eighteen. I only have about five months before that, and maybe if I start making him see me as girlfriend material and not just as your best friend, he might return those feelings. But I also have to pretend I don’t like him so Erza doesn’t murder me.”

“Do you really think she would murder you for having feelings for my brother?”

“She’s in love with the guy, so yes, I do.”

“I never thought about it that way… How can you love someone who never felt the same way about you? Or like someone like that for that matter?”

“Very easy, just have like one moment with them, a very special moment that only you two will share and bam, you have feelings for them.” Lucy made it sound so simple but then Levy remembered the movies. “Wait, my only friend is you, so where exactly am I going to get a plus one?”

“I know people.”

“Like who?”

“Just come with me,” Lucy got up and dragged Levy up with her before going over to a table. There she saw people she knew, not very well anymore but she knew who they were. “Hey, Loke,” Lucy called, even though he was obviously in the middle of a conversation with a few people. He stopped midsentence to look at Lucy. “Yeah, Luce?”

“Can I speak to you?” She asked and the bluenette did not enjoy where this was going. He told the people he was talking to he would be right back and so he, Lucy, and a reluctant Levy went to a corner where no one was. “So, I need you to do me a small favour.”

“What is it?” He didn’t seem to mind the fact that Lucy was asking something of him, but he did look eager to leave, so Levy just looked at her feet, wishing to be somewhere else since she knew what Lucy’s plan was.

“So I want to go on a secret date with Jellal, but I also told him that Levy was coming with a friend…” Lucy said in a whisper and Levy looked up to see Loke smiling a little. “Took you long enough,” he spoke after a while. “Sure, I’ll come. When is this?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Time?”

“Be at their house at 7. Wear something, nice.”

“When don’t I look nice?”

“You don’t want to know,” Lucy smirked and Levy giggled a little. Loke looked at Levy for a moment which made her anxious for some reason before he looked at Lucy again. “Don’t be mean to me, I could always back out.”

“Would you really do that to me?” Lucy asked with a pout but Loke nodded. “And you wonder why we broke up.”

“But you know that’s not why we broke up.”

“Yeah, yeah, details mean nothing.”

“Says you, anyway I’m not going to do this for you. I’m going to do it for Levy, because I know you will still go through with this even if she doesn’t have a plus one, and I’m afraid of her being scarred for life watching you flirt with her brother.” He ruffled Levy’s hair before walking away before either girl could respond.

“Would you really still go through with it without someone coming with me?” Levy asked, biting her lip.

“Of course not, even if Loke said no, I would have found someone else, and if that didn’t work, I would cancel it.” Lucy smiled at her friend before walking back to their table. Levy played around with her food as she thought about the conversation, did Lucy lie to her about how she and Loke broke up? Was Lucy ever honest with Levy? She didn’t realise she barely ate until the bell rung. She was in her Earth Science class as she thought about everything that happened at lunch. She looked through her bag, wondering if she left something edible in her bag, but she was saddened when she realised she didn’t. She was getting hungry, wishing she wasn’t always so caught up in her thoughts so she could actually eat lunch, but she had been too bothered by what happened between Lucy and Loke.

She was barely focused on the teacher, busying herself and trying to take as many notes as possible until she could text someone she knew was in school and that hopefully had something she could eat. When class finally ended, she rushed out. She was happy to see the red-haired girl, who was waving a protein bar in her hand. “Erza, thank you,” Levy spoke as she walked up to her, and Erza handed Levy the bar.

“I know that we aren’t friends, but I still see you as part of my responsibilities since Jellal is only here for one period.”

“I’m sorry for bothering you, though… You probably have better things to do and stuff,” Levy twisted her lips as Erza just sighed.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? Just make sure you eat and stay healthy.”

“Oh, okay… Thanks…” Levy wasn’t sure what to do next until Erza started walking so Levy made her way to her next class. She sat in her normal seat, eating the protein bar. “So you and Gray?” She heard a familiar voice and she was faced with Juvia. She never even realised they had a class together.

“Huh?” Levy asked between bites but then she remembered she was still wearing Gray’s jacket and she almost forgot about the rumours of them dating since no one brought it up most of the day.

“Are you and Gray dating?” She pressed and Levy shook her head. “Just because I’m wearing his jacket, it doesn’t really define that we’re dating, and you and I aren’t even friends, not anymore.” Levy shook her head a little before going back to her protein bar.

“We’re not friends because of what you did.” Juvia snapped and Levy was confused, “Yikes, I never did anything to you.”

“Yes, you did, you kissed the guy I liked in middle school.”

“I never kissed anyone in middle school, Juvia. I didn’t have my first kiss until this year.”

“Sure, like I would believe you now.”

“I have no reason to lie to you, Juvia. We used to be best friends, why would I ever lie to you about that?”

“Because you’re just trying to make me forgive you when you’re obviously doing it again.”

“Woah, what?” Levy was confused still; she wasn’t doing anything.

“You’re trying to take Gray from me, I’m not stupid.”

“I’m sorry but no offence, he’s not your property, and he’s not your boyfriend, so I can’t exactly take him away from you.” Levy made sure to whisper extra low for only Juvia to hear.

“There you go, always trying to manipulate me to make yourself feel better.” Juvia got up and moved even though class already started. Levy couldn’t believe what Juvia was saying to her. She watched her sit in another seat on the other side of the room. Levy groaned, wanting to slam her head against her desk. She tried to pay attention to class but Juvia’s words kept getting to her. Did she really manipulate people? Of course not, that’s absurd. She always doubted herself just as she was at that moment, and she remembered that she had to go over to Gray’s house that night for dinner. She just wanted to disappear; after writing down the important things for class she asked to be excused for a moment. The teacher looked worried but she smiled at him before sitting outside of the class.

She looked at the ceiling, feeling like the entire world was against her even with Lucy back in her life. But that felt fake even with Lucy’s promises, how could she trust her? Or anyone? Even Erza, who had known Levy since she was a toddler, didn’t want her around and only dealt with her because she was Jellal’s little sister. What if Lucy only apologised because she wanted to be closer to Jellal, and Levy was just a stepping stone? She closed her eyes, she couldn’t cry, not now. She had told Jellal she was okay, that she was going to get through the day; one more class and she was on her way home. She wrapped the jacket closer to her body with her legs, resting her head on top of her knees.

She didn’t know how much time she spent just sitting like that, trying to stay calm. Someone touched her hair before she felt them next to her. She expected to be someone that was just going to make her feel worse and was ready to tell them to go away, but they wrapped their arms around her and brought her close. She raised her head and opened her eyes to see it was Gray, the last person she expected to even follow her out of the class. She leant closer to him, wrapping her own arms around him. “What happened?” He asked softly and she just shook her head. He was a part of the current problem with Juvia. “Okay, we can just sit here then.” He rubbed her shoulder in circles. She didn’t want to cry, she told herself she wouldn’t; she hated how much she let everything get to her all the time, especially when it came to people she used to know.

“You shouldn’t have to sit here with me,” Levy muttered, looking at him.

“I don’t have to, I want to.”

“Why do you want to?”

“We’re friends.”

“You said that earlier.”

“Aren’t we friends though?”

“Um, yeah.” Levy bit her lip for a moment. “Are we ever going to talk about that kiss?”

“Okay, we can do it now if you want.”

“Why did you kiss me back?”

“Do I have to have an alternative motive?”

“No, I’m just curious.”

“Well, you see the thing is you’re a really good kisser and you smell really nice and this is really awkward for me.” He chuckled and she blushed. She didn’t expect him getting awkward about something that dealt with her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to get awkward about it… I just expected you to, not kiss back?” She said with a little uncertainty. Gray looked at her, letting her go which made her let him go. He got up, holding his hand out to her. She hesitated before taking it and getting up. “Are you okay now?” He asked and she nodded her head. “We should get back in class, we have,” he looked at her watch, “about fifteen more minutes before class ends.”

“Yeah, okay…” She didn’t like the fact that he didn’t say anything about her comment, but she still followed him inside the classroom and went back to her seat. She had to pretend to focus when she really wasn’t, how could she? She still was on the edge about how nice Gray treated her and then lunch with Lucy, nothing was making sense anymore.

She was relieved when the bell rang so she gathered her things and went out to go to her next class. She wanted one class without someone messing with her or making her doubt something. When she got to her History class, she sat in the very back instead of her normal seat, hoping everyone would not notice her. She didn’t know who was in her class besides Gray since he was the one to tell her that he had every class as she did beside second period where he had Math and she worked in the library.

She watched as students filed into the classroom, not actually paying attention to who they were, it was just something to look at as she waited. She felt her phone vibrate, making her come back to reality and checked it. She expected Lucy but it was Jellal, asking was she still in school or not. She wasn’t surprised by this but she decided to tell him what exactly happened in third period with Juvia and that her plus one to the movies was Loke. She put her phone under the cover of her notebook for easy access. “Hey,” she heard and she faced to see Loke sitting next to her and then Gray sat in front of him. “Hi,” she responded after she took a moment to be confused on why they would sit next to her but she just faced forward and waited for class to start.

She made sure to pay extra attention when class started since History was her worse class. Gray and Loke muttered back and forth to each other which she tried to ignore as much as possible, not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation. Every time her phone went off, she made sure to check it and text Jellal back as quickly as possible. It was difficult for her to focus and she hated it. At one point during class, she put her head down and was surely willing to give up and go home that moment but then she reminded herself that she needed the grade and the school year was still fresh – which didn’t help much since she knew it meant things would just get harder.

When she finally lifted her head, the teacher’s voice basically drowned out by her inner thoughts and wishing History wasn’t a necessary grade requirement, even though she still tried to write notes. When she was completely ready to give up, the bell rang for class to be over and she couldn’t have been any happier. She quickly gathered her things, putting it all in her bag before taking her glasses off and grabbing her phone she ended up face-to-face with a much taller Loke. “Ladies first,” he smiled and she smiled a little before walking straight to the door to leave.

As she finally got to her car, Lucy was there. “Can I get a ride?” She asked and Levy wanted to say no, she really did. “Yeah, of course.” She unlocked the doors and got in with Lucy. She listened to Lucy talk about what she was going to wear for the movie date and Levy didn’t respond as she stressed about most of the day that happened. “Also I hope you don’t mind; I gave Loke your number.” That was the only thing Levy caught in details before Lucy started talking again. “Wait, what do you mean you gave him my number?” Levy asked in disbelief as she parked the car in the driveway.

“It’s no big deal.”

“It kind of is seeing as you didn’t even ask me if I was okay with it or not.” Levy groaned before grabbing her bag and getting out. She didn’t slam her car door but she wanted to but she did storm up the steps to her front door with Lucy behind her. She knew she was being dramatic but she was never able to, after unlocking the door she looked up at Lucy. “Next time, ask me or don’t do it.” She made sure her voice was clear before going inside.

Lucy followed her up to her room, sitting on Levy’s bed. “Look, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I’m sorry.” Levy tossed her bag on her desk before hanging up the jacket on the back of her closet’s door. She faced Lucy and sighed. “I don’t know who to trust, okay? It feels like everyone's against me and the last thing I need right now is this.” She closed her closet and looked in the mirror, she surprisingly didn’t look like shit. A little pale? Yeah, she always looked a little pale. She kicked off her shoes in front of her bookcase, making a mental note to move them to her bed or desk.

“Aren’t you going over to Gray’s house for dinner?” Lucy asked and the blue-haired girl nodded.

“I can help you with that, maybe change your hair up a little?” Levy knew this was Lucy’s way of trying to be forgiven so she agreed to it. She hated making Lucy feel bad, it made her feel shitty. Lucy grabbed Levy’s desk chair and moved it to in front of the mirror, telling Levy to sit. She obeyed and watched as Lucy took her bandana off which made her frown.

Lucy grabbed Levy’s brush from her nightstand and came back over and started brushing the girl’s hair. They chatted about random things as Lucy brushed Levy’s hair better than Levy ever could. Lucy started talking about what she should wear for the movies and Levy tried her best to give advice but she wasn’t one to know things about fashion. After Lucy finished brushing out Levy’s hair, the bluenette reached for her bandana but the blonde took it. “Nope, not happening.” She protested.

“Wait, why not?”

“You always wear it, every day, all the time until you go to bed. You’re not wearing it tonight.” Lucy looked so serious that Levy barely realise a knock at her door as her and Lucy had a staredown.

“Come in!” Levy yelled before replying to Lucy, “you know how much it means to me. Why won’t you let me wear it?”

“Because you can’t live in the past forever! You wore this every single day since you found it.”

“It only been a year, just give it to me!” Levy stressed, holding her hand out.

“No, not happening. I’m only asking for one and a half day with you without it. That’s not so much to ask.” Lucy crossed her arms, her eyebrow rose. Levy looked down, biting down on her lip. “Fine, I won’t wear it.” She muttered, looking at Lucy who didn’t look too happy. “Thank you, I know how much it means to you but someday you might not have it.”

“If this is you trying to prepare me for that, try next year or when I’m 20, I might appreciate it more than.” Levy snapped, getting up.

“Don’t be mad at me, I’m trying to do what’s best for you.” Lucy’s voice sounded sincere but Levy was still mad. She looked at her bed and saw Gray lying there, he looked asleep.

“I thought it was Jellal who knocked,” Lucy whispered to Levy. The shorter girl wanted to do something but she didn’t want to give her friend any ideas so she walked over to her bed and poked Gray’s cheek.

“Are you guys done?” He questioned one eye opening.

“Yeah, we are.” Levy wanted to smile but it came out small. “We can finally do homework,” he muttered while sitting up, making room for Levy.

She went over to her desk and grabbed her bag before putting it next to Lucy’s. They all got out their homework but Lucy decided to just sit in Levy’s desk chair in front of them instead of on the bed. They helped each other with their work, Levy made Lucy recap Hamlet since she knew Lucy already read the chapter they were supposed to for class. Lucy complained through most of her Math homework but muttered ‘thanks’ to Levy whenever she helped her through a problem. Levy had to restrain herself from resting her legs on Gray’s lap, knowing Lucy was waiting for any indication of them two having something between them.

Levy was relieved when they were finally done with all of their homework. She got up and went to her closet, taking Gray’s jacket out before handing it to him. He looked at her confused, taking it. “It’s your favourite, you should have it.” She whispered. He put it on before getting up after Levy moved. “I have to get home, my mom wants me to help with dinner.” He muttered, getting his bag and before he left he looked at Levy. “Seven.”

When he left, Levy plopped on her bed, sighing. “Do you have feelings for him?” Lucy asked and Levy shook her head. “I don’t know… I, um… I kissed him…”

“You kissed him? When?” Lucy tried not to sound excited but Levy knew her friend too well.

“Yesterday.”

“Shit and you guys are that awkward with each other?”

“No, not really… No offence but we were that awkward because you’re here… I didn’t want to give you any ideas on thinking we had feelings for each other or at least me toward him.”

“Oh, that makes sense but you kiss him, he was your first kiss. That’s a big deal.”

“Can you really say that? You tried to get Laxus to kiss me yesterday.”

“That was a joke, I didn’t expect him to actually try it.” Lucy twisted her lips and Levy just nodded a little. Could she even believe Lucy now? She didn’t feel like she could, she still felt lied to by the blonde.

“Okay,” she replied in a low voice before looking at Lucy who looked interested but before any of them could say anything further, someone knocked on the door. Levy yelled ‘come in’ and it was Jellal. He looked at both of the girls before chuckling. “You two okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t we be?” Levy asked.

“Just checking…” He shrugged a little.

“Hey, Jay, can I talk to you for a second?” Lucy wondered, and Levy raised her eyebrow at the blonde.

“Yeah, sure.” Lucy got up and followed Jellal out of the room. Levy crossed her legs on her bed, taking her phone out of her bag. She had four texts, two from Jellal and two from an unknown number which she assumed was Loke. She read the texts, seeing she was right and saved his number before texting him back then put her phone next to her before grabbing the book she still has yet to finish.

She finished a chapter before Lucy came back, giggling. “How was the talk?” The blue-haired girl asked as she flipped to the next page.

“It was amazing.”

“Did you two make out in his room?”

“What would make you think of that crazy idea?”

“Oh, I don’t know how many times you told me you wanted to do that even though I told you not to because it’s gross, he’s my brother.” Levy made a sour face not looking up from the book.

“No, we did not make out but I did kiss him.” She felt Lucy plop next to her and Levy rolled her eyes.

“Does this mean the movie thing is off?”

“Nope, sorry chica. It’s still very much on but he said that I and him are going as a date and you and Loke are going as friends.” Lucy giggled again like a little girl and Levy smiled only a little because she knew how long Lucy waited for this and she couldn’t be mad.

“Okay, fine. But no gross things next to me, okay? Do it in another room until you two are official, got it?”

“Got it, captain.”

“Good, thanks.”

“You got a text for Loke.”

“Read it to me,” Levy said as she turned another page.

“He asked how are you doing?”

“Say I’m fine and ask him how is he.”

“Can’t you do this?”

“I’m trying to finish this chapter before I have to put shoes on to go next door.”

“It’s only six-thirty.”

“Time goes by fast.” Levy sighed before taking her phone. After seeing Lucy didn’t text back, she wrote the text herself and put her phone down before going back to her book again.

“Are you going to wear that?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“How much do you trust me?”

“Right now? Not much, you took my bandana from me.”

“Okay, hear me out here. Heels.”

“You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“I’m not! You wore heels most of the summer!”

“I know, you made me.”

“Come on, I’m not asking you to wear a dress.”

“Are you saving that for tomorrow?” Levy bit back, wanting to focus on her book.

“Wow, sorry for trying to give you suggestions.” She heard the sarcasm in Lucy’s voice as she got up. Levy knew she wasn’t being kind but she also was still very pissed about the bandana.

“You know I try to do what is best for you.”

“Don’t go there, Lucy,” Levy warned as she put her book down, finishing the chapter. Her friend was looking in the mirror, Levy wasn’t sure for what but she didn’t ask. “Fine, I won’t. But do not tell me before this week I have not looked out for what is best for you always. Ever since we were kids, I looked out for you, protected you, help you get better when you were sick when yo–I have always been there for you. I fucked up once! Not multiple times, Levy. Ease the fuck up on me.” The blonde looked at the smaller girl, probably waiting for an answer.

“Are you going to stay here while we go to dinner or what?”

“Thanks for that,” Lucy scoffed before leaving Levy’s room with a slam of the door. Levy rested her head against her wall and closed her eyes. She didn’t want conflict with Lucy again but she also didn’t want to deal with the bullshit, feeling that Lucy wasn’t being completely honest with the bluenette. But she didn’t have the proof, she didn’t have anything but a gut feeling. She felt like something was off between things Lucy said to her now. It could be because of the betrayal that made Levy distrust the girl. She got up and sighed, grabbing booties that she haven’t worn since the summer so that was almost a month ago. She grumbled while putting them on, knowing that Lucy was grinning somewhere for taking her advice about heels but Levy wasn’t planning on killing herself with her wedges that Lucy got her for a birthday present earlier that year.

She made sure her phone was in her pocket before going downstairs, seeing Jellal sitting on the couch. She knew it wasn’t seven yet and he probably wanted to get there early so she didn’t say much when they left the house and went next door. Jellal rung the doorbell and they stood there, looking at each other. More of a staring contest until the door opened, Jellal won. “Oh, hey!” She didn’t expect to be greeted by Loke. “Hello, Loke,” Jellal spoke before walking in with Levy trailing behind him. She waved a little to Loke before they were led to the kitchen. Ur, Ultear and Gray was all in the kitchen cooking something. It looked like an organised mess to Levy, she smiled as she heard the family bicker and laugh with each other.

She looked up at Jellal who was grinning. She nudged him a little, making him look at her. “Remember?” She whispered and he nodded, nudging her a little having them both chuckle. “I’m so sorry about this,” Ur apologised as she walked over to the two siblings.

“It’s okay, it’s nice seeing a family bond together,” Jellal replied with a smile.

“I bet you and your parents have fun all the time.” Ur chuckled a little but Levy bit her lip and put her head down. “Our parents died last year…” Jellal muttered, resting a hand on Levy’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I thought they were out of town or something…” Ur apologised. Levy took a shaky breath before raising her head and forcing a smile. “It’s completely fine… Not a lot of people actually know that.” She sounded more believable than she thought even though it was true. Jellal or Levy never spoke about their parents before and after what happened. Everyone assumed they were still alive or away. It didn’t really surprise them, their parents’ funeral wasn’t in Magnolia so only the people who were close to them knew what happened.

“I’m still sorry. If you guys want, you can wait in the dining room, we’re almost done in here.” Ur spoke with a sad smile.

“Thank you,” Jellal spoke before going to the dining room with Levy behind him. It was almost an exact mirror of their own home but just different colour walls and different furniture.

Levy sat in a seat on the side of the table and Jellal sat next to her at the end. She looked around the room, they had a lot of different art hung up. “We never use our dining room anymore,” Levy whispered.

“I know, sis.”

“Everything changed…”

“Sometimes that how it goes.”

“I wished they weren’t gone. I wished they were here with us.”

“I do too, I always do. You deserve parents, you deserve to have them see you graduate.”

“I would have been graduating this year…”

“I know, it’s okay, though. Next year, and I’ll be there.”

“You’re all I have, Jellal,” she looked at him, “please never leave me.”

He reached his hand out to hers and she took it. “I’m not going anyway, and neither are you. We got through a lot and we will always be there for each other until the end of time.”

“‘Til the end of time, yeah.” She smiled a little brighter. She was always afraid of losing Jellal or Jellal losing her. It was the one thing that scared her the most, them not having each other for a long time. She let go of his hand and wiped her eyes as he did the same thing.

It wasn’t long before everyone else joined them with a lot of food, placing them in the middle of the table that was already set. Gray and Ultear sat across from Levy and Loke as Ur took the other end of the table oppose to Jellal. After they said grace everyone filled their plate with food. During dinner, Levy avoided as much conversation as possible, she enjoyed watching everyone talk, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. It warmed her heart seeing Jellal smiling and laughing so much. Her brother’s happiness is always something she enjoyed seeing. After dinner and dessert, Levy offered to help Ur clean the dishes.

They made small talk after Levy asked for two plates to take home since there were leftovers and Ur gladly agreed. The small girl couldn’t remember the last time she washed dishes after a gathering with others. Lucy rarely ate at their house since she normally went home most days unless Levy and her messed around and she ends up staying for dinner. The most that ever ate at Levy’s house nowadays was her, Jellal and two other people. But even that wasn’t an everyday thing. When the dishes was done and Levy had both plates in her hand, Ur took her to the living room where everyone relocated at. “Hey, Jellal. I’m going to go home now.” Levy spoke loud without trying to drown out the sound of the TV.

“Want me to come?”

“No, it’s fine. Have fun, you deserve it.” Levy took her phone out to check it and chuckled. “Lucy is there so I won’t be alone.”

“Of course she is, okay don’t do anything I would do.”

“It should be the other way around,” Levy teased before saying goodbye to everyone and leaving to go next door. When she got home, she unlocked the door and locked it back behind her before going to the kitchen, putting the food away. It still weirded her out to see an almost full fridge. She went upstairs to get her clothes so she could shower and do her nightly routines. After she was done, Levy went into her room, phone on the charger and laid down. She couldn’t help but smile at what happened, seeing Jellal extremely happy was all she could ask for. He didn’t deserve being in the house all the time or at school or at work worrying about her health. She hoped if there was a party that weekend that he would go without second guessing himself. That was the last thing she thought about before going to sleep.

She hated being shaken awake but that was what currently was happening. “Let me be,” she groaned as she turned toward her wall. “School, up!” She heard Lucy’s voice which made Levy look at Lucy. “Fine, what time is it?”

“You have an hour to get ready.” Lucy looked tired and annoyed but the thing that made Levy sit up was the fact Lucy was wearing Jellal’s shirt. “Did you go to sleep in that?” She asked, pointing at it.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

“For me? No, just weird.” Levy admitted with a small shrug than a yawn. “I don’t wanna get out of bed,” the bluenette spoke as she laid back down.

“But you gotta, you’re my ride!” Lucy whined and Levy took a loud and dramatic sigh. “Okay, I’m getting up!” She sat back up and got out of bed. Lucy smiled victoriously before Levy pushed her out of her room. She stretched before picking out an outfit and going to the bathroom and did her morning routine before brushing out her hair after she got dressed. She looked at her flats that she left in front of her bookcase and wanted to wear them but she decided on her booties again instead. She didn’t enjoy Lucy’s words having an effect on Levy’s life but it was hard not to let it get to her.

She grabbed her bag, making sure everything was in there before going downstairs to the kitchen. Jellal was making coffee for himself and probably Lucy. “We got twenty minutes,” Levy said as she looked at her watch.

“Coffee then leaves,” Lucy spoke before looking at Levy. The small bluenette stood next to her friend when she realised something different about Lucy for the second time that day. “That’s Jellal’s jacket.” She pointed out and Lucy nodded.

“I’m letting her wear it, she asked. I obliged, life works that way sometimes.” Jellal said before putting a mug in front of the blonde. “Thank you for the jacket and coffee.” She kissed his cheek, Levy groaned a little before they went to leave. It was rare for Levy and Lucy to leave before Jellal but Levy knew he only had late classes that day so he had a few extra hours to spare.

Levy drove them to school and got there still with enough time for them to hang at their lockers before breakfast. “Why don’t you drink coffee before school again?” Lucy muttered between sips.

“I tend to crash if I drink coffee too early in the morning. I would probably sleep through lunch if I did.” Levy laughed and Lucy nodded with a small chuckle. They got out as Levy repositioned her bag. “So I’m halfway done with my book so do you think we can go to the bookstore before I take us to my house?” Levy wondered as she locked the doors to her car while they walked into the school.

“Nah, I know how you are with your books. Oh, I wrote another story so if you want to read that, I left it in my locker yesterday.”

“I definitely want to read it, you’re such a great writer.”

“So are you but you’re always writing codes for websites and games that you never write an actual story. We can write something together someday.”

“That works for me.” Levy opened her locker, taking out her books she didn’t need until the end of the day. Lucy was staring in her mirror, applying makeup and Levy didn’t understand that even with free time, Lucy still didn’t finish her makeup but she didn’t question it.

“I see you’re wearing heels and no bandana.”

“Yeah, I took your advice as you can tell.” Levy ran her hands through her hair before repositioning her bag on her shoulder. She closed her locker and leant against it. “I can’t believe you gave Gray his jacket back.”

“I’m not his girlfriend or best friend, I don’t have a right to it.”

“You have a right to it if he gives you the right to it, that how that works.”

“You asked Jellal for his jacket.”

“Because I got a right to it, of course.” Lucy slammed her locker before looking at Levy. “Do you like him?”

“Dunno.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Lucy linked her arm with Levy’s before they walked to the cafeteria. Levy looked around the hallway, she didn’t want to read her book until she ate as her stomach growled a little. On their way as they made small talk, Loke walked up to them. “Loke,” the girls said in sync before giggling a little.

“Is that how weird is sound when people say things in sync?” Loke asked with a tilt of his head while the girls nodded.

“Is there something you needed? You see my precious friend over here is starving.” Lucy patted Levy’s shoulder with a small frown but Levy knew she was amused.

“Just wanted to say to Levy, you look nice.” Loke smiled and it didn’t seem any hint of sarcasm or flirtiness to Levy, just genuine. “Thank you, Loke.” Levy smiled back.

“Look at you being genuine and nice, it’s cute.” Lucy teased.

“You act like I never been that way toward you.” Loke crossed his arms while made Levy looked at Lucy who rolled her eyes. “Rarely, anyway, breakfast. See ya.” Lucy walked past Loke with Levy behind her.

“Why is there always a little bit of tension between you two?” Levy whispered and Lucy just shrugged.

When they sat down with their breakfast, Levy yawned. “Why is it that every time I go to sleep at a decent hour I actually end up feeling like shit?” Levy wondered, taking her phone out of her bag.

“Because you used to do all-nighters doing school work and now because of the great Gray Fullbuster, you do your homework at a decent time. Also since you are trying to extend your reading of that book you aren’t up reading either.” Lucy pointed out before she started eating which Levy nodded as she ate.

Levy made subtle comments about Lucy and Jellal which made Lucy muttered for her to stop before Gray sat next to Levy. “Hi.” Levy smiled at him and he smiled back. “Hey.”

“Please don’t say your BFF Loke sent you over here.” Lucy sighed.

“Um, no? Did you two go at it again passive aggressively?”

“Of course we did.”

“Can’t really blame you two but don’t you think you two need to come to some understanding? It been over two years now, haven’t it?”

“I have no problem with him anymore.”

“Of course not, but you have to admit it did hurt him badly.”

“He did it to himself and if you think I wasn’t hurt then you’re wrong.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t hurt, shit it was a train wreck but you moved on, obviously. He didn’t.” To say Levy was confused with an understatement. Lucy told her that Loke broke the blonde’s heart and just hers. She didn’t know that it was considered a ‘train wreck’ or that he was hurt in the process so Levy looked dumbfounded.

“All of those girls he was with would probably state differently. Look, I understand you’re trying to be a friend to Loke, I would do the exact same thing for Levy but I’m not having this conversation with you. If he wants to talk, have him come to me or he can say what he have to say tonight.”

“Fine, I’ll tell him now.” Gray sighed as he got up and left.

“What was that about?” Levy asked, looking at Lucy.

“History and we both know how much you hate history,” Lucy muttered and Levy didn’t like it. She checked her watch to see how much longer was breakfast and she sighed herself, another ten minutes. That was plenty of time for more drama. “I’m here,” Loke spoke next to Levy and she knew she wasn’t getting any breaks today.

“Do you have a problem with me?” Lucy asked almost innocently.

“A problem? Of course not. Resentment? Absolutely.”

“Why?”

“Maybe the fact you broke my heart? Or should we talk about the fact that you told Natsu that you didn’t even want to be with me but you stayed to not hurt me because you thought I was fragile? Or the fact you told everyone that I broke up with you because I cheated on you and I said you weren't good enough? Which one do you want to talk about first?” Loke crossed his arms.

“I didn’t say that to Natsu nor did I tell people you cheated on me.”

“Natsu told me himself and showed me the text messages. And then why do everyone in the school think I’m some sort of heartbreaker now because of you? I got that reputation because of that.”

“And how many girls heart have you broke since then?”

“None.” He spat and Levy put her head down. She was ready to leave, she didn’t want to hear much more of this. She knew Lucy lied to her now, could she even trust her to make Jellal happy? Or as a friend? She lifted her head and her eyes met with Lucy’s who didn’t seem remorseful for what she did. The blue-haired girl got up with her tray, her bag on her shoulder and left.

She was halfway to her class when the bell rang for breakfast to end. It was a Friday and she expected to have a good day, that went out of the window. She hoped that night would be better, she waited next to the door before the teacher opened it and then she went in. She sat in her normal seat, wondering if Lucy and Loke argued through the rest of breakfast. “I can’t believe you left me,” Lucy sat down as she slammed down her bag on the desk.

“That was between you and Loke. I had no business apart of it.” Levy muttered making Lucy sighed dramatically loud.

“You still should have had my back, Levy. God, if that was you I would have been there for you.”

“But we both know that won’t happen.”

“You don’t know that.” Lucy spat and Levy didn’t enjoy how hostile Lucy was being about that.

Levy looked around the class are everyone continued to fill in, she was never looking for someone in particular just like seeing who she knew in class but she always zoned out and never paid attention to who they were. The bell ringing took her out of her trance. It was surprisingly an almost normal day in class with Lucy it in of course and they didn’t make small talk or joked together about the lesson which – for Levy was good with her. When class ended, Lucy looked at Levy. “I’m sorry, I’m just really on edge.”

“Why is that?” Levy asked in a sarcastic manner because a part of her truly didn’t care.

“Jellal, what if he end up thinking I’m too young or not mature enough or find a college girl that is way better than me?” Lucy sounded so sad and apparently didn’t get Levy’s sarcasm but she understood why Lucy would feel that way. “Look, Jellal had a lot of relationships which we both know but he wouldn’t let you wear his jacket, wear his shirt without complaining, so I’m pretty sure he won’t just change his mind.”

“We both know you would have been in more relationships if you weren't so introverted.” Lucy teased and Levy just nodded. 

“I have to get to the library, see you at lunch?”

“Yeah, I have History.” They both left the classroom together before they had to go separate ways. When Levy went in the library, Gray’s class wasn’t there even though she was a little late than usual so she assumed they were either coming later or not at all. She went to behind the desk and put her bag under it before going to reshelved the books. She listened to music as she did it, lost in her own little world until someone tapped on her shoulder. She paused her music and looked at who was interrupting her, she expected Gray of course but it was Loke. “Can I help you?” She whispered.

“I was actually looking for a book, Gray told me this was the best time to do it. The librarian hates me.” He whispered back and she just nodded a little, she knew the librarian didn’t enjoy most students that didn’t visit often that took out books. Levy didn’t take out many books since she started working there. “Let me put this in the front before I help you, okay?” Levy smiled and he just nodded. He followed her to the front until she put the cart where it normally was. “Okay, what book did you wanted to take out?” She faced him and he handed her a piece of paper. She looked at it and raised her eyebrow for a moment before at him, “who gave you this list?”

“Lucy, why?”

“Of course she did, did she tell you anything about the list?”

“No… You’re scaring me.”

“It’s just, these are some of my favourite books.”

“Really? Why would she give me a list of your favourite books?”

“I don’t even know,” Levy sighed, “do you still want to take them out?”

“Yeah, why not,” Loke muttered. Levy bit her lip before going to get the books as Loke followed her again. “I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Do you like Gray?”

“Did he have you ask that for him?”

“Nah, he doesn’t know about this conversation.”

“Well, in that case, I will not humour you. I don’t know how I feel about him.”

“Really? How not?”

“Unlike almost everyone in this school, I did not have anyone like me romantically and vice versa. So I never liked someone, I thought about liking someone only because of books I read,” she handed him the first book off the list before going to the next, “but I never had someone outright said they had feelings for me. Gray was actually my first kiss, so I don’t know anything about anything.” She admitted, giving him the second book.

“That sucks, I’m sorry. But you are like really shy and reserved if you think about it.”

“I’m not shy, I just don’t want drama in my life which isn’t working out that much.” Levy grabbed the last book and handed it to him. “There we go, anything else?” She asked, looking up at him as he looked down at her.

“Nope, nothing else besides needing you to check these out for me. Also if you didn’t want drama, you should've picked another friend, Lucy literally pulls drama to her.”

“She been there for me through everything, I’m not just going to drop her like that.”

“You mean what she basically did until you two made up?” Loke raised his eyebrow with a smirk.

“You don’t know anything,” Levy muttered.

“Oh, you see dear, I know a lot.” He leant down next to her ear. “She cares a lot more what other people think of her than you think. Trust me.” Chills ran down Levy’s spine as she thought about it. It wasn’t false of course, after all, it did little convincing on Meredy’s part to get her to stop being friends with Levy but she was pretty sure that Lucy wouldn’t do it again, right? “I know her well enough to know she wouldn’t do it again.” Levy tried to sound confident about it but she didn’t fully believe herself.

“If you think so, I hope the best for your friendship with her.” Loke straighten up then gestured his free hand to let Levy go first. She walked to the front and got behind the desk to check out his books. When she was done she told him to have a nice day before he left with a wave of his hand. Levy went back to putting the books from the cart on the shelves. When she was done, she sat down behind the desk and relaxed until the period was over.

She walked to lunch letting everything just go for the moment. She got her lunch then sat at the normal table she always sat at. She was eating when she finally looked around to see was Lucy there yet or if she got held up somewhere. But she didn’t see Lucy in the general area so she just went back to her food and waited. She checked her phone for any texts but nothing. When she was finished eating and no Lucy, she just started reading Lucy’s book she gave her that morning. She tried to focus on the reading but it was very unusual for her not to see Lucy without a warning first. But of course Levy knew Lucy was climbing up the popularity ladder and probably got caught up but one thing Levy was happy about was her lunch was drama-free. When lunch was over she made her way to Earth Science and that when she remembered that Juvia was in that class. But she hoped for the sake of all that is good, it wouldn’t be terrible. She sat in her normal seat and took out her things she needed.

She tapped her pen against the desk as she waits for class to start until she started drawing on the outside of the margin of her notebook. She was never good at it but it didn’t really bother her since she had coding and writing. Levy was in her own little world when the bell rung, she started paying attention to the teacher. She wrote down her notes like normal before she felt like someone was staring at her so she looked around the room as subtly as she could before she saw who was sitting next to her. She didn’t say anything to him, she just went back to paying attention until they got a small break to study for the quiz they would have on Monday. “If you’re wondering why I’m sitting here is because of the fact Juvia took my seat.” He whispered and Levy chuckled before propping her elbow on the desk and leant her head against her hand. “Why do that not surprise me?”

“Because Juvia wants to be with Gray and she thinks you’re competitive?”

“Why won’t he just date her?”

“Lots of history that I’m happily not a part of.”

“Lucky Loke, hm?”

“I guess you could say that. Also wanted to apologise about breakfast even though I could have done that in the library but you didn’t seem like you wanted to be bothered.”

“Honestly? I got over it.” Levy shrugged a little before sitting up straight and looked forward.

“Are you ready for tonight?”

“Not really, I don’t think any sister would be ready for tonight,” Levy admitted and she heard Loke chuckle. “If I had a sister and she wanted to date my best friend, I don’t know how I would react.”

“Can’t blame you, it’s a little weird but I also kept pestering Lucy about her being with him since she had feelings for him since forever and I don’t know, I guess they would make a really good match.”

“Hm, I never knew that.”

“About her feelings?”

“Yeah, all this time I thought she just liked Natsu…”

“Why is that?” Levy looked at him.

“That all she talked about with me and Gray.”

“She never mentioned liking Natsu to me until last week…”

“Really?” Loke looked at the bluenette confused. “She been talking about Natsu since the summer. She spent a few days with him, Meredy, and Natsu’s brother, Zeref.”

“I knew she hung out with him but she only told me how fun it was and that lasted for like 20 minutes and she never spoke about it again to me.”

“Wow.” Loke sat back in his chair and Levy bit her lip, running her hand through her hair. She couldn’t believe how many secrets Lucy kept from her. When class was finally over she switched her books from her bag for her History class, ready to just go home. “Gimme,” Loke said, catching Levy off guard. “Give you what?”

“Your books, give me your books.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to carry them for you.”

“Again, why?”

“Because I want to.” He held his hand out and she didn’t feel like arguing so she gave him her books. “Come on,” he gestured her to go first and she did. They walked to class together, mostly in silence because Levy was a little confused on why he would want to carry her books. She did just fine every day doing it herself. “I have a question for you.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“Why did you flirt with me last week?”

“Because you’re pretty.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Why? You don’t?” Levy heard the teasing in his voice when he said that which made her laugh a little.

“I didn’t say that I’m saying you’re like the first guy that ever said that to me.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Why would I kid about that?” Levy asked as they finally got to their classroom. She went to her usual seat where Loke put her books down and sat next to her. A few seconds later, Gray was sitting in front of him.

“I still think that people should compliment you more,” Loke whispered.

“I don’t mind not getting compliments, it’s not always genuine.” Levy shrugged as the bell rang for class to start.

Like every day, Levy struggle with her History class, muttering under her breath about why would she even need it for College. She didn’t! But the grade she reminded herself on why she didn’t cut this class also she didn’t want to have a worse absent but she knew they would question why she was in school all day and not her last class if she did it all the time. But she didn’t understand how she could get everything in school easy peasy then History, History always seemed to have screwed her over every day.

She didn’t even notice when someone tapped her desk as first until she looked up above her glasses when the noise started to irritate her. “Don’t stress, I’ll help you through it later, okay?” Gray whispered softly and she felt so relieved even though she didn’t enjoy the fact he switched seats during the middle of the class. “Thanks, Gray.” She muttered, putting her head down in relief. She could’ve nap right then and there but she pretended to pay attention to her teacher, even though she pride herself on being a good student, she didn’t like History enough to actually try at that moment.

She doodled on her notebook to act like she was taking notes instead of doing nothing. For once since school started, she wasn’t that stress about the subject. Lucy and Gray helped her through her History last night even when she wanted to throw her book across the room. She wondered would Lucy be coming over for homework or was she going to get ready for the movies at her own house since she was going with Jellal and not someone else. Levy remembered getting Lucy ready for many dates but never one for Jellal and the blonde. She removed her glasses for a moment to rub her eyes, she was ready to get home but she still had almost an entire class left and she didn’t know how to busy herself until she remembered Lucy’s book.

She took that out and started reading it after putting her glasses back on. She took out a pencil so she can write edits Lucy should make to the book. It was something both girls did for each other which was one of the reasons Levy didn't write often, she was afraid of it not being good enough for Lucy. She was realising how dependent she has gotten on having Lucy around. She groaned as quietly as possible as she put her head down. She just wanted to go home already.

When the class finally ended and a silent ‘thank you’, Levy got out of her seat and started packing her stuff. She wondered would Lucy be at her car and a second later after all of her things were away her bag was took from her. She was ready to protest but Loke was the one with her bag. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know, I want to.” He chuckled and she took her glasses off, putting them on her head. “Please say this is a today only thing.” She practically pleaded and he just shrugged.

“I’ll meet you at your house, right?” He asked looking over her.

“Yeah, don’t give away too many desserts to girls.”

“When have I ever?” Loke gasped in a dramatic fashion and Levy couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“I really need to get going if you don’t mind, of course,” Levy spoke before either boy could say another thing.

“Okay, okay, let’s go.” Loke gestured for her to go first like last time and so she went. On the way to her car, she rubbed her hands together, just wanting to be there already. It felt like a long walk when she remembered her phone was in her bag that Loke was casually carrying as if he did that every day for her. They made small talk but it wasn’t that much even though for once Levy wished they talked longer so she wouldn't have to think about everything else. She didn’t have many things to say, Levy just looked at him often. Seeing people being so calm made Levy curious, she was rarely calm, always worrying or stressed or just over thinking in general. The calmest she ever been is when she’s in the library or bookstore but even then she’s probably excited or busy with thinking about something. She forgot all about Lucy until they got to her car and Lucy wasn’t there. She took her bag to take her keys and phone out. Checking her phone, she wasn't surprised that Lucy got a ride with Erza, it was just weird because of the event that was going to happen later. She unlocked her car and faced Loke, “thank you.”

“No problem.” He smiled before walking away. She got in, tossing her bag onto the passenger’s seat. Levy texted Lucy back before driving off to go home. When she got home, she grabbed her bag and went inside, locking the door behind her. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl full of grape before going up to her room. She put her bag next to her bed before sitting at her desk. Her first instinct was to look through her window and so she let herself, all she could see was his door and part of the TV but it was out like his light. Levy sighed, getting on her laptop to write a little.

She didn’t realise how much time passed as she heard her door swung open, “ready for homework?” She heard Lucy said behind her. She rubbed her eyes before turning to face her friend, “what time is it?”

“Um, like 4pm?”

“Shit, I’ve been writing for two hours…” She trailed off, groaning. She took the last grape out of her bowl before eating it.

“Did you even pick out what you’re going to be wearing?”

“Why would I? I was going to wear this…” Levy raised her brow and Lucy snickered before going to Levy’s closet. “Is Gray here?”

“Yeah, Jellal is talking to him, about what? No clue so don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Happy we got that settled.” Levy watched Lucy rummage through the bluenette’s closet without a protest, knowing Lucy too well. “Where’s your outfit?”

“Guest room.”

“Did Erza help you get ready?”

“Actually, she did. I had a chat with her and she said she’s completely okay with Jellal and I because she likes someone else.”

“Oh? Did she give you a name?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Probably not, I can’t think of Erza having feelings for anyone besides Jellal, you know?”

“I get that, it seems like she had feelings for him since forever.” Lucy came over to Levy with two dresses that Levy would never dare to wear but only had them because of Lucy. “I’m not going to wear either of those.”

“Leggings!”

“Have you seen me in a dress lately?”

“Nope, so change. Also, I appreciate the effort in you wearing skirts.”

“Yeah, yeah, gimme and leave.” Levy got up, taking the dresses before Lucy left the room. Levy went over to her bench, putting one of the dresses down before changing. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, knowing if she changed out of it before Lucy seeing it, she would get an ear full so she went to her door and opened it. “Here,” Levy muttered, Lucy looked at Levy with concentrating eyes.

“Okay, the other one now,” Lucy said, closing the door. Levy groaned before changing into the second dress and then going to her door, opening it. Lucy was talking to Jellal which made Levy clear her throat. Lucy looked at her up and down, “this one is better.”

“Good because I don’t want to change again.”

“Not surprising.” Lucy chuckled as Levy looked at Jellal. He looked confused before he just shrugged and went to his room. Levy plopped on her bed as Lucy came into her room, sitting in her chair, moving it toward the bed. “Where’s your bag?”

“Guest room, I’m not doing homework until tomorrow.”

“But you literally came in here asking about homework.” Levy gave Lucy a judgemental look as Gray walked into her room. “Hey,” he muttered as he sat next to Levy. She was leaning against her bookcase that was closest to her desk instead of being near the door like normal. “Hi.” She smiled at him before swinging her legs on his lap, not caring about Lucy’s later opinions about it. He hands her one of her pillows and she put it behind her. “Please say you’re here for homework and not just be to be here like other people,” Levy side-eyed Lucy who rolled her eyes.

“I am here for homework, yes.” He softly patted her head and she chuckled. She grabbed her bag before putting her glasses on and took out her homework. They got to work right away while Lucy made comments which Levy had a comeback to them most. Levy didn’t even know how Lucy could even make comments since she was on her phone through the entire thing. When they were done, Lucy got up and looked at Levy. “Don’t forget to brush out your hair again, I’m going to get changed.”

“Whatever,” the blue-haired girl muttered under her breath as her friend left. Gray chuckled a little and looked at Levy. “Do she always boss you around like that?”

“Pretty much.”

“Why do you deal with it?”

“I don’t know? She stuck by me through a lot…”

“That doesn’t give her the right to boss you around.” Levy bit her lip as she looked down. She knew he was right but she didn’t want to lose Lucy again. She leant her head back, closing her eyes. She didn’t want to go to the movies and be used but she also wasn’t going to back out for Jellal’s and Loke’s sake, they didn’t do shit wrong.


End file.
